Anadyomene | Teen Ink

Anadyomene MAG

April 30, 2009
By Wryterly SILVER, Birmingham, Alabama
Wryterly SILVER, Birmingham, Alabama
6 articles 0 photos 0 comments

My mother swims the butterfly
in the Gulf of Mexico, her body
a series of arcs that slip smoothly
through the wall of green waves.

She pushes bubbles to the seabed with
cupped hands, the air from her lungs and
the foamy thrash of the waves mingling
around her legs in a slipstream current.

My sister and I bounce on tiptoe in
water up to our chins, watching for
the splash of her kick that rises
just over the crest of the next wave.

We call after her, but with her
ears full of water and a sandbar
between us, my mother is deaf
to all but the call of the ocean.

When we feel sluggish with sea salt
we stumble, numbed, up to the shore
and pace there, waiting for our mother
to come back from the edge of the world.

There, her bones never betray her,
the brine washes over her weak joints and
she returns to us with water streaming
from her long hair, a modern-day Venus.

I am no longer that child who paces
the shoreline, having long since scrubbed
the sand from my hair, the salt from my veins,
but my mother molders, landlocked, inland.

She sits at the edge of our goldfish pond
and trails her pale fingers in the water,
wets her sleeve and trails the dripping edge
along the curve of her jaw.

Her deep blue eyes hover somewhere
between the horizon and distant storm clouds,
as if she waits for the rain to flood
this dusty-dry land and set her free.



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This article has 7 comments.


on Oct. 9 2015 at 11:52 am
KayeIsWriting SILVER, Oxford, Alabama
9 articles 0 photos 43 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!" - Franklin Roosevelt

This is beautiful, amazing describing and detailing on this! A winner in my book.

on Jun. 26 2011 at 5:48 pm
Warm_My_Heart GOLD, My City, Other
13 articles 0 photos 54 comments

Favorite Quote:
&ldquo;Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.&rdquo; <br /> Leo F. Buscaglia

This is a very well written story.

Kai17 GOLD said...
on Dec. 25 2010 at 2:16 pm
Kai17 GOLD, Spokane, Washington
17 articles 5 photos 339 comments

Favorite Quote:
*beepbeep* <br /> &quot;Where to, Miss?&quot; <br /> &quot;To the stars.&quot;

No wonder this was published! Awesome work.

on Jul. 26 2010 at 4:46 pm
Saudade_indigo PLATINUM, Winnipeg, Other
21 articles 0 photos 17 comments
i can see why this was published. it's incredible!

cara_ruegg said...
on Jul. 17 2010 at 5:05 pm
cara_ruegg, Germantown, Maryland
0 articles 7 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;live, laugh, love&quot;

Beautiful imagery :)

on Jul. 15 2010 at 9:21 pm
BlueInk94 PLATINUM, Valley Park, Missouri
30 articles 0 photos 75 comments
this poem is so beautiful! i love how its almost like a story. u have talent. keep writing!

on Jul. 15 2010 at 4:57 pm
everthought BRONZE, Vancouver, Other
1 article 13 photos 69 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;forever is the new now&quot;<br /> -anonymous

imagery, imagery, imagery