For Ethel

Beneath gambling skies
Mother and child
lost amongst the haze
of dandelion seeds and lazy wishes
Hypnotic symbiosis
Eyelids do flutter
with micro submarines
trudging charcoal territories -
a pasture for the diseased prayers
Salt sediment clinging to fingers
porcelain razor shells
Yet the songs will still play:
songs of whimsy
songs of grief
Summon a rainbow -
one for each of her children
For Mary, upon her lap she daydreams
For Ethel, resting deep in the Earth
Love is a membrane for the bubble
bouncing across the meadow