Find the door early in life that will lead you into
your future.
Stand
in the sand—
meet
the vast ocean in your bare feet
where
the relentless salt waters the shore
pounding
it in forgiving rhythm.
Washing
my soul this way
with
tide pools left behind,
archiving
hermit crabs
in
miniature mother-of-pearl spirals.
All
that she claimed as sacred in her life,
are
as the artefacts for a future art gallery.
As
a child, she collects the rocks,
shells
and seaweed of the shore for her museum;
seastars
are the lights of Stella Maria.
Later, as a gallery attendant, she leads us on a tour
of
the museum of human life, its first conception
through
final breath and beyond.
Emily Isaacson