by Lorraine Lamey (c) 2021
A brief poem capturing the unexpectedness and richness of these times with my parents. These moments have a preciousness and richness well beyond their brevity. In looking into the poem, I found that tidepools vary tremendously in size, duration, consistency, but most are vibrantly rich in life.
When did yours become the weaker body?
On the shore of memory, your hug catches me
in its undertow of love, leaving
the abrasive grains of childhood tumbling behind.
Eventually I am released, reborn.
A river unable to fill your emptying estuary,
I embrace you now, unaccustomed
to the soft flesh and frailing frame
leaning into me.
We abide in the ripples
of our teeming tide pool.
The Surest Sign 