19th Century Muse

Plunging into the depths,
the dark part of the
aquifer's womb,
where life is
birthed,

she returns to her
beginning,
where gentle
ultra-sound
waves rock
the watery
cradle,

leaving her pink
triangle mound
of coral and
pearls.

Like all moving
water, she is both
constant and
changing,

bringing forth life
and changing it
when necessary.

Toll in death,
smashed cities,
rampant diseases,
crippled economies.

The time for gestation
and meditation, time
for rebirth as she
pushes through to
give new birth to
the poet.

Take one last look.

She will arise again
from the sea foam.

She is the carved
female figurehead
commissioned by
shipowners and
lighthouse keepers,

with the likeness of
her muse, in her
honor, as she does
not get seasick on
poetic waves,
and she climbs the
ratlines with ease.

The next time we
see her, she will be
the 19th Century Muse,
where she will be a
riverboat pilot

where women begin
to make careers at
sea.

where in this era,
America's rivers
will be alive with
steamboats carrying
freight and passengers
to Cincinnati and
New Orleans.

Women are earning
ship pilots' and
captains' licenses,
taking the wheel

and Aunt Callie plays
the calliope on the
"floating theater"

why this author can
now 'showboat.'

Copyright 2005 Sage Sweetwater, firebrand lesbian novelist