“Sealskin to Her Selkie,” is a wonderful poem by KT Herr. It’s about shutting ourselves away, regretting choices we’ve made, and losing the memory of “how to wake a body/to its home’s emphatic music.”

Reading the poem, I’m reminded of Bridget, lonely, afraid, and walking in the moonlight along the river back of the cabin. Despite what she’s suffering, at eleven years old, she’s still brave enough to keep her faith in selkies, thus in the magical. She believes all water is connected, and since Mum is a selkie, she’ll come. Won’t she?