Shoreline
Pilgrim,
all your effort has led you to this rocky strand,
its still-familiar shells and crab claws,
scribbles of bladderwrack,
to face a glittering sheet,
alien as tin.
A new way of breathing
must be learned.
But not yet –
first you must discard
the items in your pockets,
bright winking pebble
peeled birch wand, pressed fern.
Move to stricter tests of parting:
aged dog, grizzled muzzle hopeful on your knee;
snap his lead from your heart, go free.
Lose the memory of faces,
fields of goldenrod and church bells,
the baby’s waving fists.
Close the album, drop it where you stand,
or bury it for someone else to find;
It doesn’t matter. These images
are meaningful to no one but yourself.
Pool your clothing round your feet,
it’s simple now, step once,
twice, to be rid of folds and ties,
the air is colder on your body –
time to peel away the skin,
leave it glistening on the shore.
Take just one step more.
Page(s) 66-67
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