The Gift
After the wind-bruised
sea
furrowed itself back
into the folds of blue, I found
in the black wrack
furrowed itself back
into the folds of blue, I found
in the black wrack
a shell called the Neptune
-
tawny and white,
spherical,
with a tail
tawny and white,
spherical,
with a tail
and a tower
and a dark door,
and all of it
no larger
and a dark door,
and all of it
no larger
than my fist.
It looked, you might say,
very expensive.
I thought of its travels
It looked, you might say,
very expensive.
I thought of its travels
in the
Atlantic's
wind-pounded bowl
and wondered
that it was still intact.
wind-pounded bowl
and wondered
that it was still intact.
Ah yes, there was
that door
that held only the eventual, inevitable
emptiness.
that door
that held only the eventual, inevitable
emptiness.
There's that - there's
always that.
Still, what a house
to leave behind!
I held it
Still, what a house
to leave behind!
I held it
like the wisest of
books
and imagined
its travels toward my hand.
And now, your hand.
and imagined
its travels toward my hand.
And now, your hand.
~ Mary Oliver
~
(The Truro Bear and Other
Adventures)
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