Poetry — August 27, 2012 15:37 — 2 Comments

Estivate – C. Albert

The salty water swallowed me.
Captive to a power beyond myth,
I spun until my shell smoothed.

Coughed back out, I scuttled
from sand to hard ground
swept clean by dry wind
and hunkered down inside
my blind house, body armor,
by appearance, a rock.

Inside, reprieved from windows,
my safe edges were still haunted
by dull vibrations, constant reminders
of the pounding sea.

Sleep freed my watch.
Days or months later, I woke
from a dream the ground shifted,
releasing worms that wiggled
through web-feet.

Hungry, I peek. Someone whittles.
Woodwinds serenade.
I slip inside before she comes forth
and strokes my sun-baked roof.

Bio:

C. Albert's poems and collages have been published in diverse journals including Wicked Alice, Pirene's Fountain, Centrifugal Eye and Naugatuck River Review. She is resident artist at Ink Sweat and Tears (online) and her collages have recently been featured in The Monarch Review.

2 Comments

  1. I certainly can relate to finding myself upside down, being spun as sand softens my soft edges, and there have been times when I have felt isolated from the world outside, hearing muffled sounds I didn’t really understand. Albert obviously understands that hard-shelled creatures aren’t hard-shelled creatures.
    Wonderful read!

  2. Jed Myers says:

    The real live music of this poem is one of its deeply enjoyable dimensions! C. Albert has an ear to match her vision!

Leave a Reply to Sally Arango Renata

What am I?

Bioluminescent eye
That sees by the shine
Of its own light. Lies

Blind me. I am the seventh human sense
And my stepchild,
Consequence;

Scientists can't find me.

Januswise I make us men;
Glamour
Was my image then—

Remind me:

The awful fall up off all fours
From the forest
To the hours…

Tick, Tock: Divine me.

-- Richard Kenney