Before
Fell down from the river
a village collapsed
then settled
​
Shuffled in during
that century
when lined faces
hadn't any names
​
Card houses ran amok
among thin hands and
bony fingers
​
I can still hear the clatter of the moving contraptions of that forgotten race
Ode to the Dead
Counting bones
is like humming a new song
​
I can slide her name
"The oldest of the old"
between slices of bread
​
Pound these bones
into powder
with my rage
​
I will sing for the long forgotten
To the Goddess of Never Was
I will hear her laugh
as I bite down
Swimming Lessons
Drawn from deep waters
the sea pulls them close to her
tells them stories of mothers
who tossed their daughters
into the deep
​
Daughters who couldn't swim
daughters who learned
to be
mermaids
in the school of hard knocks
​
Daughters who learned
whale-song
instead of
nursery rhyme
​
The mothers shrug their shoulders,
push their toes into the sand
​
The sea keeps them,
unremembered