For then was our time

In thatched thicket of March
invisible webs caught light
staying our hand to remembrance
for then was our time, roughly
put together we stayed storms
our footprints bleaching journey
like shells without swirl
though you often looked
straight-backed and supple
against the long glass
like a diver of pearls who
caught the sheen and glow
they possessed, capturing
in un-rinsed jelly cups the
reddened lips of a child
with her thick inky hair
fastened by protesting ribbon
pouring out of her the shimmer

of deep-sea ancestors

bequeathing you immortality
as cast in moon light you
pause against time’s salty thirst