for Clara
Begin with a flying line of pelicans
in command of latitude above a house
by the sea. See a fish skeleton, hand-
carved, thin and thick wooden bones
above a door. Walk the soft shore
among the jelliness of moon jellies,
little moons of translucence, alien
and fine. Did you hear moon jellies
were once sent into space? And the
woodcarver of scales and fishtails
finds beauty in flaw and blemish?
Kudos to the dolphin who already
knows how to be her own
accomplishment. On a salty night,
do an inventory of sweet. Let
your body be like the ocean, bathe
its possessions, its breathing jewels,
tend the underwater flowers.
Marjorie Thomsen, author of “Pretty Things Please” (Turning Point, 2016), has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her poems have been read on The Writer’s Almanac and she has received poetry awards from the New England Poetry Club and the University of Iowa, among others. A poem about hiking in a dress and high heels was made into a short animated film. Marjorie has served as a Poet in Residence in different communities and is a psychotherapist and instructor at Boston University’s School of Social Work.
