The Way Home
A poem by Claire Coenen

The Way Home

When I am seasick,
the child inside trembles,

terrified of what hides beneath 
the blanket of sea. The child in me

longs to spread her toes in the sand,
nestle against the skin of her mother,

breathe the earthy scent beneath palm trees,
squeeze the wrinkled hand for dear life.

Now I live in the salt, the blue, the mystery,
the endlessness of sea expanding. I am lost

in wanting, waiting, watching as clouds
create rain and rain creates ocean.

I see the drama of water around me,
the storms of my fears and yearnings

rise and fall like wind, like waves.
Now I sense my mother within,

her full moon eyes alive in mine,
the light of her voice shining

in my mind, like the sun
untouched by fog. I know

my heart, like the world, will
heal and break, heal and break,

all the while, I gaze
at ocean stars

and float on this
blanket of blue.

About the Author:

Claire Coenen, LMSW, M.Ed. M.T.S., is a writer, teacher, and social worker living in Nashville, TN. Her work has previously appeared or is forthcoming in The Nashville Scene, The Write Launch, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, The Banyan Review,Cathexis Northwest Press, Soul-Lit, Light of Consciousness Magazine, and Salvation South. You can learn more here: clairecoenen.com

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