​The Child Within Us 

Touch earth:
And suppose you are a child again
Racing incessant waves
Against their own urgency
 
Sense sky:
That bell-jar of infinity
Pressing down on the small figure
That is you staring back
Into your own blue infinity.
 
Taste salt:
Of Atlantic seawater, of bristling tears
Turning into brine, as Time dwells
Incessantly in the shell of your sensation.
 
Take time:
(An artificial distinction between then and now)
And press it close, salt away pain,
Fling it high above you, crack the glass,
Then, only then,
 
Touch earth.
 
 
By Carol Anderheggen 
Moonstone Beach, RI
June 1978
​

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