Old Woman

I scanned the windswept
shore of your
aged and broken body
(they bent and primped you
like a dime-store doll);

Through rugged reefs of pain,
past gloomy atolls of derelict pride
I sailed
to a tropical sea of your
shimmering soul.

And for my journey:
The timeless treasure of
your timid, schoolgirl smile.



svh
Salvation Army Thanksgiving, 1984

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