Writers’ Weir: What We Wouldn’t Give

Published 9:01 am Wednesday, December 28, 2016

WHAT WE WOULDN’T GIVE

BY W.S. MERK, 12.16.2016

What wouldn’t we give

To walk that backward route,

Each step pulling like a slipper from the sand,

Waves unrolling the beach,

White foam settling quietly into each swell

As the moon rose,

Blood-red,

Into an empty April sky?

What if,

One day deep in winter,

We were offered the chance of touching

From the earth

That color thought lost forever?

What risk wouldn’t we take,

Given the chance that,

Done with absolute belief,

This kiss pressed softly

Into the hair of a loved one

Whose spirit was drifting,

Was lost, or losing,

Wandering off trail,

This touch could ease the path

And gently bring them home,

Would breathe new dreams

Into their night?

W.S. Merk has been living and writing in Juneau, Alaska since 1991.

The Capital City Weekly accepts poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction submissions for Writers’ Weir on a rolling basis and will publish them as space and competition allow.

Send submissions to editor@capweek.com.