I wake to find
the water has withdrawn
gathered back into her ocean
exposing the bed of my being
the creek in which I live
My story enfolded
in the ridges of sand and rock
in pools of pebble and reed
in hollows carved
by the movement of tides
the slow in out breath
of the moon
You
swam into my life
in a rush of waters breaking
one and then another
and for a time your lives
filled every hollow
masked the marks
already etched by life
into the skin of me
And now you are growing
I feel you gather yourselves in
pull back from the comfort of
my tidal inlet
your oceans calling
This tidal ebb reveals
in the mud flats of my soul
creature footprints
beak tips
wing marks
a hieroglyph of memory
marking countless journeys of
landing
treading
meeting
imprints of
touching
rising
falling
The space you leave in me
still wet from inundation
now covered in tracks
an engraving of your lives
on me
My estuary heart lies emptied
the moon holds her breath
I wait
until the turning of the tide
a waxing of waters
trickle tickle
feel their way with tender touch
into the space
you leave behind