Two Poems by Kate Merlin

Some refreshment on a hot day from Santa Fe writer Kate Merlin.
***
Neptunian

All oceans are one ocean,
turquoise, the grey green of the Atlantic
The shimmer and depths, so many names and
places where it rushes to land
the defining skin
forming shapes and features. I wake up
and look in the mirror. This face, this smile
this life. Oh for a lover, to sweep me out of myself
for a minute, or an hour, into the sea
that cascades to the source.

***

The Royals

The queen is jubilant at her jubilee
70 years on the throne
To be born a queen
Sounds so grand
I was born feeling like a queen
The spangled sunlight as I lay in my buggy
My mother’s smiles
Now at 75
So many memories
But that one remains
The queen couldn’t do better.