Anna walks on careful limbs
Mermaid fins
On charcoal sand.
Swallows sun drops with her eyes
Seeks clearer skies
Than others can.
Her space is cluttered up with living
Life with grieving
Brush in hand,
She paints her past with turpentine,
Naples’ wine
And hinterland.
What is now, and what was never
With endeavor
Countermand.
Loss that takes and loss that binds
Intertwined
A woman stands.
Toby Hemker - Poetry 