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Sea Pearl
I'm fifteen darkwater dreaming or drowning
adrift and alone on the ocean of the bathroom floor
tossed on tidal waves of pain pearled with perspiration
a clattering clutch of shells contracting
shingle shushing stifled shrieks
the shucked shell of my womb
emptying like an oyster snared
by umbilicals of seaweed Far away
hazy-faint through saltwater mists I see
a little pearl glistening floating and rocking in red sea
I'm all at sea without anchor on tides a boat floating free
seeking a mooring in the harbour of the doctor's consulting room
her voice a deep dive anchoring me with subtle sympathy
through muffled underwater sounds sea-shadowy fog shawling me
I want to tell her about the dream submerged stories of a tiny pearl
maroon-mangled and foam-spangled slipping slowly from me
into scarlet sea drifting away sinking to darkwater depths
Driving home my mother's rings clink like shells against the steering wheel
and a shaming sea of silence fills the car pretty shells shucked and shocked
Copyright ©
Charlotte Puddifoot
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