I’m back! And I have another poem for you: This one was written for a class on the epistolary form, which taught me the value of letter-writing in terms of theme and usefulness.
While this one hasn’t been published anywhere, it’s one of my favorites, so I hope you enjoy it!
***
My dear treasure:
I’ve found you at last,
small, strong,
an easy shatter; intact
no ocean can measure
the beauty in the abandon
the wonder in this child’s heart
the wide eyes
the strangled gasp
do the adults roll their eyes
at you or me?
You, empty, are still glossy
you, echoing, are still strong
you do not break little brittle bark
in an enclosed palm, or
surrounded by battalions of rocks
if the sea cannot hurt you, nothing can.
Life once thrived within your winding body,
a home, a burden, a protection
but now you are vacated
scattered among the skipping rocks
as the sand sails through the hourglass
and you stand alone.
Through the misty rain, heaving waves,
the sun’s sizzling rays
you stand,
unbreakable,
empty.
You have not broken, yet
the churning beast has chewed you up,
spit you out, here you lay,
on the dead shore,
your twisted form wondering
if there is more than this;
how empty is the sea to one speck of sand?
Shatter, wonder,
strong, brittle
battalions, winding,
sand, rain
waves, rays, you stand
unbreakable
dead, twisted, empty
empty
empty
one speck of sand.
I’ve found you at last,
my dear treasure.
How has this fragility found
the perfect vessel?
May I hang you round my porcelain neck,
rusty dove,
as the ocean calls us from within?
Rachel Sandell 