The Marbling Of The Ocean Poem by Suzette Richards

sea-urchins in rock pools -
the flesh, a delicacy -
sparkle -
protected from the ocean
where anemones proliferate -
by a mist-glistening
heart shaped rock:
the keeper of my secrets -

a cache of memories
of mornings snorkelling
surface
eddy on the periphery
—homesick for my roots—
a keeper lost to shifting tides
white horses
masking risk in its wake …

a plastic wrapped sushi tray
on the kitsch kitchen counter
awash with the detritus of daily life—
a cold cup of coffee
milk skin
swirling like
liquescent marmoris
fluctuant under
fractured light

tender moments
where flaws hide in the spotlight

Laetrile induced
unsettling riptides
where occasionally colour swirls
marbling visions
the future liquescent …

I'm drowning in
proposals of memories
to be made with loved ones
family secrets to
be offered up
a dish that could be as
risky as Omakase …

smiling indulgently with my eyes
as a mirror-smooth ocean -
a north-westerly wind
whipping up the occasional white horse -
hides its turbulent depths
so a state of amenomania
settles over me

the final images
- as requested -
the secrets of my life
tucked away in an abditory—
eddying between past and future
the key to
unlocking it—
left in
their hearts—