Wishes

On seeing a cluster of at least

five hundred dandelions in the

ready to blow stage

the mother in me

wants to gather

five hundred children

bring them to this open field with

all their yearnings

ready them for seeking and finding

teach them that dandelions are

called Shepherd’s Clock because

they open with light and

close with darkness

invite them to fill their lungs

their cells with light

exhale their breath

their doubts with all the

gusto of all

their mights

Immersed      

Learning to swim was not on my

Brooklyn childhood concrete cafe

menu, so I walked on firm ground

until I met the dairy farmer's grandson

who led me to believe that one little neon

life jacket would keep me afloat

in his blue eyes and in a mighty ocean

with no land in sight, I jumped right in

landing beyond the edges of joy, into a

warm aqua womb, face down with air

coming through a tube, I was swimming

defying gravity, flying in slow motion

my body became goddess, on tour of

a new realm where angel fish kept company

with sting rays, where barracudas swam

near me, keeping their teeth to themselves

but sharing their sun catching silver sides

waving flashes of light into my goggles

I would never be the same, now knowing

there is a place for me in the sea of diving