She sits in silence,
waiting for the mud to settle,
the water to clear.

It takes awhile
but it happens,
and at the bottom of the pool
she sees a pearl,
and a small, teary-eyed monster, all out of breath,
mother's cameo broach lost in '82,
a broken rosary, missing a decade or two.

She reaches through the still, clear liquid.
"Where to begin?" she wonders, with still, clear awareness.

Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.