come on down to the Mermaid Cafe

			Dig it


shana dug this bottle from the earth
	her hands reaching 
	dirt lodging beneath her fingernails
		she took the time to clean it
			i imagine slowly
				with ritual
			perhaps under a moon pregnant and full
		shining bright as she touched it to river water
my mother dug this bottle from the earth
layering paint and crystals
	a bottle for magic and fulfillment
	a bottle to keep the spirits from escaping
		the spirits who tells you that you are ugly and useless and old

as i make up the details to a bottle 
so real I have placed it on my kitchen windowsill
so real that i have thanked her for my solstice gift
my mother dug her grief into the ground
	nurturing it with her art, her soul
	nurturing me through her art
					and her liveliness

my mother
		she dug this bottle from the ground
		and gifted it to me with her own self

	this bottle beautiful and reclaimed from the earth
		can you dig it?
		can you know?
		can you become one with the earth
			with knowledge and art and hands digging?