Harriet my Pirate Sister

My sister Harriet was a small thing
as a baby, her willow twig fingers
scratching with squishy knife nails.
Growing up we summoned the small thing
but her cries were not small things, never,
and dusky blue eyes were big things
shining like a radiant sea floating with flotsam,
with specks of wood from fractured small ships.

In our family of three bigger things
she is still the small thing
even though she’s now
a ship's captain --
Taller than me
and mum
(Not quite dad).
Even though she now has a crew
of her own to call small things,
my sister is still the small thing,
and will always be my small thing.