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I Have Been Living by Jane Mead

By T.

8 September 2026

I Have Been Living
Jane Mead

I have been living
closer to the ocean than I thought—
in a rocky cove thick with seaweed.

It pulls me down when I go wading.
Sometimes, to get back to land
takes everything that I have in me.

Sometimes, to get back to land
is the worst thing a person can do.
Meanwhile, we are dreaming:

The body is innocent.
She has never hurt me.
What we love flutters in us.

KEEP READING

SHARED WITH GRATITUDE

This poem appeared in House of Poured Out Waters by Jane Mead, published by University of Illinois Press, 2000. (Available on: Amazon • Bookshop)

ABOUT JANE MEAD

Jane Mead was born on August 13, 1958, in Baltimore. Mead authored several poetry collections, including To the Wren, Collected & New Poems (Alice James Books, 2019); World of Made and Unmade (Alice James Books, 2016), which was a finalist for the Griffin Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award and long-listed for the National Book Award; Money Money Money | Water Water Water (Alice James Books, 2014); and The Lord and the General Din of the World (Sarabande Books, 1996). Mead was… (more)