Ocean, For Lisa
words float between us
because we are an ocean of listening
between us an ocean opens
we float on the words love & kindness
because they are rafts of sanctuary
when the ocean swells like our eyes with tears
& we frighten a bit when the lid on the sugar bowl
shifts – the listening touches shores we can’t see
but we can feel because that is what vulnerability
does: teaches us how to be oceans of ears
how love & kindness fills us up like sugar bowls
because everywhere containers wait for our
vulnerable openings
Thank you, Lisa, for giving me three words for today’s poem: love, kindness, vulnerability. Thank you for sharing with me.
VANESSA SHIELDS, writer 