Puka shell

A pin-prick window into universes strung together
By the child's searching eyes through the looking glass,
Alice, what do you see in the swaying?

A pearl rolls shyly in her palm,
Where should it go in this reckless world of gold
To avoid the jaws of jewellry?

In the shallow water hours pass,
Small things flicker and swish
A toy ocean of holed white calcium tumbling.

She knows herself in the tide,
The memories threaded close around her neck
Waiting for a new wave to sift out the sand.

A childhood memory of diving for Puka shells on Maui.​