Slipping Into My True Self

by Joan Leotta

Sand dollars,

currency of mermaids,

call to me from

dead low tide where

my feet caress their outlines

in the shifting sand

until I can scoop them up,

set them on my windowsill

to watch them whiten

in the afternoon sun.

Once dried they are like porcelain,

delicate but firm

like a lover’s skin, cool against my own.

Surrounded by these totems,

even far from sea, sun, sand

far in time, in winter’s chill                                                                                                 

far in distance, landlocked still,

I slip into my true self by simply,

smoothly sliding my finger over their edges,

holding them, one by one,

like the waves that brought them,

cool, smooth against my cheek.

* * * * *

Joan Leotta, www.joanleotta.wordpress.com, is an author and story performer. Her books include Giulia Goes to War, Letters from Korea, A Bowl of Rice, Secrets of the Heart, historical fiction in Legacy of Honor Series, Simply a Smile—a collection of short stories, and WHOOSH!—a picture book.