Friday, July 15, 2022

Finding words for her sixty something birthday

For your birthday,
I went fishing for some words for you, 
casting my net in the ocean
of my memories.

Many memories I caught,
beautiful and glad, but then I had 
to let them go again, 
for you are bigger than my memory, 
residing in the hearts and minds of 
many more than me.

So, standing by the shore, I thought to fly a kite instead
and catch some phrases from the ocean breeze,
to seize a sentence telling how I loved 
the vast and open spaces of our shared experience.

But then I stopped and turned around
for you are solid ground and not as fickle 
as the breeze, nor changeable as rolling seas.

I look to land instead, beyond the tides 
for you are bedrock 
where the ocean of my memory resides.

But land has fewer words than I would wish.
I cannot fish for words in rock nor net them 
like a butterfly in air.

So I stood there, 
dumb and wordless on the land 
until you took my hand and held it tight in yours. 

Then there was need for words no more.

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