A Simple Seashell

A single candle lit the room

where many of our nights prevailed.

Enough light to reveal

the soft curves and the warm glow

of her naked body.

Enough light to expose the details

of the small seashell

she wore around her neck

on a thin silk ribbon.

It was a shell I had found for her

on our first walk by the ocean.

It was a simple seashell

very smooth, highly polished.

It had a golden translucent hue

with a naturally worn hole

where she attached the black silk ribbon.

She wore the shell everywhere

and every day

right up until the day she left.

She left it hanging from the rear view mirror of my truck

where it hung for a time

reminding me of her beauty

and of the pain of her departure.

It hung there until my next visit to the ocean

where I held it in my hand for a minute

before relinquishing it back into the sea.