Offering
I scan the shoreline, shuffling in and out of waves,
sifting through shell fragments. I spot one,
wrapped in a wad of purple kelp—a sand dollar—
whole, crisp, chalk white in a gray-brown array
of crushed conchs, chipped edges, holes and half cockles.
My finger traces the smooth, sloped surface.
Five slits surround five gray petals with perfect
radial symmetry. I imagine fashioning an ornament—
soaking it in a bucket of bleach, slipping a ribbon
through the top slit—or slathering it with paint,
setting it on my bookshelf in a delicate silver stand.
When I return to the boat, my hands cup several sand dollars,
sun-warmed, stacked in my palm. I toss all but one
to the foaming waves. The sea swallows, obliged.
Evangeline Sanders is an MFA student at the University of Alabama and a graduate of Clemson University, where she received degrees in psychology and Spanish. Her poetry chapbook, Flight of the Quetzal, was published with Finishing Line Press in November 2023. Evangeline’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in several literary journals, both print and online, including Sky Island Journal and Delta Poetry Review. Much of her current work engages with biblical themes and the natural world. She teaches undergraduate English classes and serves as an Assistant Editor for the Black Warrior Review in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Amethyst Review 