My sister, single-minded
even underwater knows
the way. She shaves
up the underside of leg
her razor like her mind.
Her blunt hands prod
her cuticles to shape. Her self-
regard is practical.
She swims in focus
towards a consequence.
She cannot blur;
wide skies and ambiguity
constrict. No sunset pearl
nor solipsism like the dahlia
whose petals curl
upon themselves. I remember
we were ivory blossoms
once, a breath away.
Previous published in Greensboro Review, 2007 Number 82