• Vol. 09
  • Chapter 03
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A Seven-Part Setting with Seven Companions

As I lie and lay here soaking in a seven-sided tub
I do contemplate a bit the vermilion of my toenails,
but ever so much more my seven-segment setting:
a stretch of pale-blue sky with clouds to spare,
a rare blue cliff alongside two of standard fare,
a natural wall of sandstone under nature's care,
a fairly blue sea daring to accost the rugged coast,
and this bath of waters altered with food-colorings.
I meditate on the magic of the cypher six-plus-one:
the seven days of the week (a lunar cycle as well),
the seven colors of the rainbow (no strain to see),
the seven wonders of the ancient world we inherited,
the seven petitions in the Lord's Prayer, or deadly sins,
the seven-note musical scale of western civilization,
seven seas for seven continents of the whole planet,
and seven brides (sisters?) for seven brothers,
akin to the seven beings who have remained around me:
the bare white-haired lady with creature companion,
the super shell conch with its very own scuba device,
the super-sized rubber ducky to add some perplexity,
to the peeking young woman with an otherly otter cap,
the real otter with smart eyes of determination and will,
and the semi-swarthy busty mermaid who's a siren
warning me of course with her fixed gaze and song
and luring me into a septagon of wonder and precipice.

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