Oyster Sisters

Beginning like a seed

to open tender growing lips,

oyster's call ripples to the petticoat edge

of Yemaya’s farthest lacy shores.

Yemaya creates oysters,

holds them growing in Her ocean lap.

Oshun is the rainbow lining the shell,

the beauty of the pearl.

She is the crescent edge of the moon

the oyster feels as the pull of hope.

Oya is the reaction of pearl-making,

of dealing with irritation.

Oya is the windy process of growth,

self-purifying.

She is the surprise of an amorphous shape,

a hidden beauty.

Three moon Sisters breathe the oyster,

breathe us in their cyclic tides.

© Tamara Rasmussen 2018