For Gwen

maggie and milly and molly and may

by
e.e. cummings


maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles; and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

for whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea.

Photo is detail from a watercolor hanging in my dining room by Graham Herbert, a painter from Hornby Island, British Columbia.