Metaphors

by Gay Reiser Cannon
(Port Aransas, TX)

For Derek Walcott

Like pebbles on the beach at Brighton
You snatch them up and skim them
Out across the waves
There the sea will catch them, polish them
Make them even more brilliant

I might find one
Tucked in among the millions I could find
How artful, I would think, I can
Impress my friends who'd think me clever
To arrest it from the scene

But should you come to see me
You would laugh at my lone object
Scraped from the English sea
Why – you would wonder – make it so hard to find
When they're all out there for free

© 2010 - Gay Reiser Cannon