M A R G I E  The American Journal of Poetry     www.margiereview.com

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  LINDA PASTAN  
     
  Parting the Waters  
     
     
 

Nothing is lost.

The past surfaces

from the salted tide pool

of oblivion over

and over again,

and here it is now—

complete

with ironed sheets, old sins,

and pewter candlesticks.

My mother and aunts approach,

shaking the water from

their freshly washed hair

like aging mermaids.

They have been here

all along, sewing

or reading a book, waiting

for the wand of memory

to touch them.

  
     
     
  From Volume Four  
     
     
 

LINDA PASTAN's 11th book of poems, The Last Uncle, was published by Norton.  She just completed her 12th book of poems entitled Queen of a Rainy Country.  She is the recipient of the 2003 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.