Fishing Stones
I did not find the lost oasis
of Zarzura, nor spears and swords
of Persian armies drowned
in sand, not even the wreck
of Count Almasy’s plane,
though there were many stranded
lorries and more recent tracks
of smugglers from Libya and Sudan
but I resurfaced
from Egypt’s Western Desert
with my pockets weighted down
by stones.
In that boundlessness
of space and skies, I anchored
my eyes on the more palpable ground,
fishing
for petrified memories
of meteor rains, bones
of whales and sharks from primordial
seas, sand transfigured
into glass
and stone by stone,
I drew in my catch
with an umbilical cord.
Rita Mendes-Flohr is a visual artist, writer and ardent trekker. Much of her writing and photography is inspired by her travels and hiking. Born on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, she studied in Boston, lives in Jerusalem and feels at home (only) in the in-between.
Website: www.ritamendesflohr.com