I Thought at the Time
by Marg Walker
we were nothing alike.
From the port in Maine I called to tell
of the brilliant sea, the thrill of running the rigging,
how I slept under stars on the bony island
and learned the languages of wind,
the tiller seized in my calloused hand.
I don’t understand you, she said. I could never
do that. Yes, I thought. Good.
Now, a found photo. Her floral dress is trim.
She pulls the rowboat’s oars, tosses her curls,
laughs at the camera’s lens. This was before
she bore children, more than she wanted,
and I was one of them.
From the port in Maine I called to tell
of the brilliant sea, the thrill of running the rigging,
how I slept under stars on the bony island
and learned the languages of wind,
the tiller seized in my calloused hand.
I don’t understand you, she said. I could never
do that. Yes, I thought. Good.
Now, a found photo. Her floral dress is trim.
She pulls the rowboat’s oars, tosses her curls,
laughs at the camera’s lens. This was before
she bore children, more than she wanted,
and I was one of them.
Marg Walker pursues her abiding interest in the human voice through poetry and music. Her poems have appeared in Minnesota Monthly, Tishman Review, Wilderness House Review, Red Wolf Journal, and other publications. Marg co-hosts the Midstream Reading Series, a monthly live poetry reading series in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Her first full-length poetry collection, Sitting in Lawn Chairs After a Complicated Day, was published by Nodin Press in February 2020.