Augustine: Flotsam Jetsam Swish and Swirl

Dear Athena,

I'm writing to you this morning from our department meeting. There was a wild restructuring yesterday. I came to this meeting. I took something to make it less painful. I'm just sitting here. An observer. Looking and hearing. It washes over me like waves and time. A lullaby comes  to mind by Sara Groves:

Starfish Starfish

Wonder what you are fish

Time and Tide go washing by

And you don't even care

Peaceful creature

Come and be my teacher

Flotsam, Jetsam, Swish and Swirl

And you don't even care.

I sing this to my niece, Eleanor, when she is going to bed. She runs around the room, not wanting to go to bed, but I lure her to her bed by promising a song. I sing, over and again, my forehead to hers. She runs her fingers over the hair on my face and traces the topography of my eye. Her eyes trace the lines on my face. I whisper about a peaceful creature and the time and tide.