Worthwhile Words
for N.I.

dripping-wet girl
sea water, salt water
assault her

is this the girl I know and love
is this the girl I met and crave
to get to know

I have this photo of her
to savor, to lick water from
water dripping off her

what a cup her navel is
once tied by it
to her mother
in the womb
that was two decades ago

most beautiful fingers
most beautiful hand

will she too slip through my fingers
will poems of her as well
be all I’m left with
all I have to live with


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2008
3:36 a.m. 04.02.08