Mireille Kalfayan: Shell Searching

Click to hear the audio segment Shell Searching read by Lola Koundakjian.

She went soul searching
on the sea shore
and found shells
abandoned
by a rock
dug under footsteps
in the sand
or swept away
by the tides.

She went soul searching
in the sea shells
and found them
half-broken
at the edge
others covered
with hardened sand
or carrying inside
an animal, dead.

She went shell searching
in her soul
and found in the deep
spirals of its form
a soft touch
a silent tone
murmuring
"You're not alone."
"You're not alone."

She went soul searching
in the sea
and found sailing
beyond the horizon
the image of a child
clutching
a single shell
tightly enclosed
in her hand.




Mireille Kalfayan
This poem has appeared in ASPORA, Volume II, 1995.