My smile was a little girl
Twirling in the sunshine—
Her laugh bouncing through
The air like fairies as they
Played with the dew-drops.
It did not wane, and it did not
Tarry—it only brightened
With every thought of the
Blessings my God had
Laid upon me.

Pristine waters along the new morning
Eating away at the shore’s lips
Licking the grains of sand that stray
Into the dark ocean
Crystals of colour floating in the sea
Aligning upon foamy waves
Never unmoving, forever free

I stifled a sob.
         As if that would change
The volume of my grief.
         The despair pooling
Around me
     Was enough to alert
Those with the loss of hearing,
     Their hearts
Full of a sound they had
      Never heard,
But gripped
          With their hands,
Their memory,  
          In the loudest feeling.

I sat on the edge of a teacup,
Spinning, spinning in a saucer,
My feet dangling in the boiling,
Tea-stained water—wondering
If it were better to fall forward
Or backward.