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"This is the tasteless water of souls..." Walt Whitman
I end where I begin
carried along in the company
of fishes and fallen leaves
rolled and tumbled over rocks and sand
one minute in shadow
one in light
we've been intimate
you and I
I've felt the swirl of the artist's brush
and slaked the thirst of refugees,
cradled the joy of parents-to-be
coaxed cures from barks and leaves
carried salt down the backs of slaves
washed wounds of the unknown soldier
floated the ark with brother and sister
drowned the deaf and disbelieving
fed the hummingbirds that hover at dusk
I've been carried by clouds and wind
thrown against glass and cliffs
drawn from wells, released to rivers
been fired to fuel your engines
frozen to cool your tea
I've fed the lone cypress and beat at her roots
cooled lava, swamped huts in Sumatra
carried disease and washed away lives
been the tears that grieve
In you and of you.
I swirl in your mouth and wash lies
and truths from your tongue
Spit me out or swallow me
I will seep into the earth again and rise
to be drunk by mothers who nurse their young
I end where I begin.
by Susan M. Ellis
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