I watch,
intrigued
as if this were a clip of a movie we made
perceiving
how easily excuses and lies
can be silenced by a
break
in the sky.

I watch,
assuming a distant
goodbye,
yet letting the question drift awhile
on the blue horizon
until, resisting temptation,
I permit your image
to fade.

I watch and wait
while sorrow ebbs. The sky
rains beachballs, jigsaw pieces,
a lone, tumbling, soft toy,
describing all the fizz, all the love
you shrugged off long ago.
Leaden with memories
they drop, to be swallowed
by a nonchalant sea.

Feet firm on aged rock,
I watch, reminiscing,
yet separating,
releasing the wisp
of the fruit of my womb,
clawing the ache.

Defiance rises within me:
mettle and muscle contain me.
The waves cannot take me.

Weight recedes,
leaving nothing to see.
I am air, air is me.
I sleep.

Written for my delightful friend, Paul Sunstone, who challenges us to write a post on the subject of Defiance.

©Jane Paterson Basil