The cherry trees bloomed while my back was turned.
Today pink petals were drifting among the rocks,
boulders brown and angular as neglected teeth,
engraved with the haiku of exile.
A glimpse out a train window
of a home rolling backward out of sight--
chipped now into stone with a steel-tipped chisel.
Meanwhile a couple was being photographed
in a bridal dress and a natty suit.
Holding each other under the flowering trees
and drinking from opposite sides of a fountain
like their parents, sipping from opposite ends of an ocean.
I thought the rocks had turned to a row of old women
wiping drops of Oregon rain
from their stone faces.
I wanted to line up a row of pebbles at their feet
and say "Here, Grandmothers,
here are your grandchildren."
Collection available! Knocking from Inside
Friday, April 01, 2011
Ends of an Ocean
Labels:
free verse,
poetry
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1 comment:
Poignant.
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