Alabaster Women
by Ieisha McIntyre
Alabaster women bathe at sunset in
the river of light and shadow.
take time to rub moonstone over their
skin after mud soap has brushed
clean stable all the sunlight soot
of their day flesh.
Lights them moon colored
and pearl eyed,
they swim translucent fish through
water - hair seaweed fresh languid.
While guppies play follicle tag among
millions, cheveaux-like seaweed absent
of seahorses-starfish their fingers
to their thighs and slide through water
oil gentle.
Never thinking of loss, never thinking tender fingers
holding waistline tight against untold horror,
but buck gentle ‘gainst subtide current, sailing shifty-smooth
toward destination infinite, forever calling their truest self
permanent and ever altered.
Alabaster women lie dormant on black sand beaches
roll their bodies covered entire in black tar
volcanic soot sand cover dormant
midnight journeys forward to the past of never
carry all the hope not yet hoped for.
pregnant silent lay in wait
for the sun to bake solid blackness.
Prepare for the scorch of the sun,
the walk of the day.
Dry and prepare sea legs
for land toil walk among strangers.
All Rights Reserved (c) 2010
This
work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
