(souvenir) FOSSIL by Tina Cane


 
 
if not summer camp then Cape Something

where sunshine hid in sand till eventide exposed its streaks

between Maeve’s fingers on the phosphorescent dune

those distant afternoons the beach studded with men

young and free from curves or moon pull     the shifts

that dimmed the vital light     as she saw it     that might have

drawn them to her     so summer rose instead and broke over her

with its machinery of surf and flux     each wave etching briny urges

on the surface of her skin

 
 
 
Tina Cane was born and raised in New York City. She is a poet, teacher and founder/director of Writers-in-the-Schools, RI. Her work has appeared in numerous journals including Barrow Street, Hanging Loose, The Literary Review and Spinning Jenny. She lives outside of Providence with her husband and their three children.