Lighthouse
Climbing inside
then inside-out, we wind round
the spool of ourselves.
Spiralling upwards,
we follow the fossil footprints
of a trillion strangers
embedded in stone triangles,
each triangle smaller than
the one below.
Our hands cling to the well-worn walls.
Concave and unroped,
the lighthouse leans in on itself.
Cold, indifferent beacon.
Triangles shrink to a child’s footprint,
(the steps are wet now, the going slippery).
I scream out
stay close, stay close
my words flailed by the mocking wind.
Flat on her small circle of stone,
my child lies, spread-eagled –
a mermaid washed up by the tide.
Her breathing steady as the great light’s flash,
she shelters her self
from the enveloping storm
behind shuttered eyes.
I wake, knowing
she will live her life fully,
she will thrive, more than
survive me
Page(s) 48
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