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