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<\/a>“Cross Currents” was published in the anthology\u00a0Claiming The Spirit Within<\/em>, Beacon Press: Boston, 1996.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The moon’s choreography
\nis less reliable now
\nunlike the obedient tides
\nmy body chooses its own tempo
\nsways out of rhythm
\nthen drifts in step again
\nfor a measure or two<\/p>\n
It surprises my attention
\nI had forgotten this last bend
\nin the yawing currents
\ndid not expect as much drama
\nas at the beginning,
\nwhen childhood washed away
\nlike an unguarded doll
\nat the water’s edge
\nor in the middle
\nwhen all of me swelled
\nwith the briny broth
\nof a stranger’s life
\nnow, again, I search the mirror
\nhunt for how my face reveals
\nthe changing course within<\/p>\n
People say I do not look my age
\nas if I’d won a prize
\nthey say I am too young
\nto parenthesize the moon
\nI can not always say I do not like
\nwhat people say
\ndo not, some days, want
\nto conjure back the blood
\nrejoin the familiar round.
\ndo not, like a lone sailor
\nin a cloud-thick night
\nlong to drop anchor
\nforget the creaking tiller
\nthe unknown destination
\nthe shape of undreamt shores<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n