At Bedtime
we are reading
about the boy
who held his finger in a dike
keeping the ocean at bay
Rescued and back home
he kneeled to say his prayers
What are prayers
my little girl asks
I swallow doubt and sigh
It's when you talk with God
tell what you need
listen for answers
say thank you
Oh she says then silence
She'd heard that word before
adults swearing
Oh my God
The Dutch boy in the tale
felt the water's heavy mystery
saw the odds against him
grow like the sea-wall crack
but he kept plugging the leak
He knew he needed others
to miss him
to find him
to shore up the dike
He knew who to thank
Waiting for help or ruin
did the boy whisper a plea
and listen in silence
Quiet for now does my girl
feel the current of the night
hear the rush of salt water
under her skin
Jan Seagrave has been a writer for universities, a storyteller, and a librarian. Her work appears or is forthcoming in San Pedro River Review;Gyroscope Review; Eunoia Review; Reverberations II, ed. Pendergast; Marin Poetry Center Anthology 2016, 2017, 2021; Redwood Writers Poetry Anthology 2018-2021; Amore: Love Poems, ed. Tucker, 2016.
Amethyst Review 