AMBER GOODWYN

Human Bone in Sea-Water

The old woman lay 
on the beach all day 
deeply tanned, topless, 
wrinkled as sand

occasionally 
slipping into the 
Balearic Sea
before returning 
to her towel this 
sunny day in cool 
September.

As a girl from an 
island, I have known 
such women: windblown, 
raw, diving from the 
bows of fishing boats 
with blood-smeared decks, spears 
in hand. I wrapped my 

skinny arms around 
their strong necks as they 
swam across rip tides 
to warm shallows, where
mellow lemon sharks 
glide.

At night the women 
hung their gold—bright 
as the sun—on their 
bodies, casting 

fishing lines into 
the dark blue
where only minerals and metals
remain after 
crawfish pick skeletons 
perfectly clean.