"We return..."

They walk
ahead of me
by twenty yards
or so, and
I follow
in their footsteps
like an
adoring,
obedient
child.

Two sets
of footprints
one with a deep high arch
and the lightest
heel impressions in the wet sand,
the other...each foot
firmly, and carefully,
planted.

they are so alike
and yet
not at all...

No longer tiny versions
of the women they
will  one day be,
it is
now
who they are.

Ever
confident and
strong,
yet with a dash
of the
sassy
silliness,
and sparkly
light,
that
glints off the sand
beneath their sun-scorched
feet,
and catches in
their hair,
their eyes,
their laughter...
like sugar dust
on madelines...

suddenly they
turn,
running back
with treasures from
the sea.

one with a small
moon
shell as
tiny as an infants
fingernail

the other with a bit of
seaweed in the shape of
a sponge.

"here mommy,"
they say in
unison
and then giggle
as if on cue...

We are "us"
again...

Mother,
daughters,
sea,
treasures,
sand,
salt,
tears...of
joy...