Stepping Stones

She’s wearing
the wrong sort of shoes
to follow her daughter
across the stones.

She hears the water;
a rush of bubbles
concentrating sunlight
filling her eyes
with the excitement
of her child’s.

She then takes off
her fashionable shoes
and steps onto
the first stone.

She absorbs its warmth
through the soles
of her feet;
the first time in years
they’ve felt
anything this gentle.

She walks across
feeling carefully
the surface
of each stone.

She joins her daughter
laughing.

Jennifer Johnson