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.
