Ghazal, My Mother Enters the Ocean in Pearls

Wearing cerise lipstick, my mother enters the sea in blue pearls,
a scalloped bathing cap, gold lamé suit, those derring-do pearls. 

If she were a dragon, billows of fire would pour from her mouth.
If she were an oyster, she would open to the sun and spew pearls.

Once she and I walked in the ruins of an ancient hotel, upended beams
buried in the sand. She told me of women wearing well-to-do pearls. 

Women who stood frozen in briny windows as they were carried out to sea. 
What is love, where did it get me, why care about some cock-a-doodle pearls?

When I am so old I forget my keys, my name, my children, she says,
throw me in the grace-less ocean wearing my Park Avenue pearls.

GRACE MASSEY

Grace Massey is a poet, dancer, and socializer of feral cats. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Michael, and a formerly feral cat, Penelope. Grace has degrees in English from Smith College and Boston University. Her poems have been published in numerous journals, including Quartet, Thimble, RockPaperPoem, and One Art.