People Who Live
from At the edge of the BodyPeople who live by the sea
Understand eternity.
They copy the waves,
their hearts beat with the tide,
& the saltiness of their blood
corresponds with the sea.
They know that the house of flesh
is only a sandcastle
built on the shore,
that skin breaks under the waves
like sand under the soles
of the first walker on the beach
when the tide recedes.
Each of us walks there once,
watching the bubbles
rise up through the sand
like ascending souls,
tracing the line of the foam,
drawing our index fingers
along the horizon
pointing home.
copyright Erica Mann Jong
Lovely. So...the house of flesh is only a cloud.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are with you. Lovely poem.
ReplyDeleteYou have probably all guessed that this post is my way of dealing with the passing of my beautiful older sister, who raised me like a mother from the age of eight. You bloggers knew her as commenter Dixie Jane. She is Laurie and Judy's mother. It was on Thursday of last week that she left this life. She was two weeks away from her birthday, June 7th.
ReplyDeleteYes, and it's really fitting. I've been thinking of you guys a lot lately. For Dixie Jane - a woman I didn't know, but because of her chipper comments on Laurie's blog, I'll miss her. But most of all I feel bad for how hard this is on you guys.
ReplyDeleteWOW - that poem is something else!! Today would have been her 88th birthday.
ReplyDelete