This ekphrastic poem was inspired by a photograph my brother took a few months ago.
For my brother Ben
A dandelion self-sprung from sand
and dusk,
she stood,
caught in the glow of sunset
and shore.
Something of the girl
lingered with the last light,
breaking soft across the water
like a single golden candle.
In its reflection the woman saw summers
and salt,
grey water warmed by August’s breath,
gulls and shadows,
sailboats and sea-houses.
As the earth spun beneath her feet,
her gaze pulled far, and wide
past the horizon to the point
where the gilded world
was new again—returned whole—
hers
and hers alone.
©2015. Mindy Martin. All rights reserved.