Four Weeks Until Graduation
            (For Trish) 

Listening to the stream
of excited chatter
I hear the undercurrent
flowing behind your eyes. 

Emerald sea-pools reflect
another eighteen year old
once poised on the crest of
the first swell in life’s ocean. 

I recognize the ripples
of childhood tugging,
urging you to catch
the next roller back 

to the security of shore,
as your prepare to tumble headfirst,
fingers crossed, into the fathomless
uncharted waters. 

If only I could promise
a dream voyage, safely cradled
in some mermaid seawomb.  But,
as a seasoned survivor, tossed,
battered by a world of fickle waves,
silently I wish you, God Speed. 

                        Copyright © 1988 Pam Patterson