#margaret phyllis macsweeney

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Carmel Point

Margaret Phyllis MacSweeney

I watched a sea anemone

The color of green jade

Shadowed under water.

I saw a daring crab,

Unafraid and young

Touch the velvet petals

Of that princess under water.

Softly she took him in,

Softly she sighed and closed.

The little crab was hushed and still –

Never would he swim again

Under crevice, under weed,

Under green and colored water.

Softly she opened –

That princess of rare jade.

Softly she gave him back

Sucked of all his pearly flesh

Sucked of all his salty blood.

I ran away to tell my dad,

"Let's go home," I said,

"I am sorry to be born,

I am afraid of many things."

"Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle... And Other Modern Verse" - compiled by Stephen Dunning, Edward Lueders, and Hugh Smith