City of Dots

My shell lives the shores
from the world inside.
It holds the secret treasure
inside its swirly maze of wonder
whispering like a group of giggly girls.
I am the keeper of a fever
that shimmers inside of me.
A city of lights
shining like the stars.
Memories of the sea
keeping it from me.
My city of dots.

---
This poem was awarded First Place (Primary) for Poetry Object 2017

Judge's notes:
"This poem demonstrates a remarkable economy of language and elegance of voicing. It has a simple, lovely music suggestive of a conch shell and the sea whose memories the shell keeps. It also employs strong, simple, rich metaphors: 'Maze of wonder/ whispering like a group of giggly girls'; 'a city of lights'. It spoke several of the most alluring lines among all the poems in all categories: 'My shell lives the shores / from the world inside'; 'I am the keeper of a fever' and 'Memories of the sea/ keeping it from me'."
~ Mark Tredinnick, Judge, Poetry Object 2017

Watch our Poetry Object 2017 digital exhibition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TukWN1BdcPs