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.