Prodigal

by Mimi White

The eternal route
past the lake
where you learned to swim
as a child

where you fished
with your brothers for hornpout
whose whisker -like barbells
felt like hooks

where you skated
in the deep end
over waters
that swallowed
a car whole

Beyond that world
in the woods
on barren islands
living in other lands

you got lost
inside the small
rooms of your life

Still there is happiness
in not knowing where you are

There is the white porcelain of memory
There is the blue sky