Selene

The unseen seeps into the threads of our lives,

frenzies the pulse, strikes

the nerves taut, strings of a violin

quick staccato notes sharp, heart leaps bloody

fast and beats into a melody of breathlessness. This myth

of the liminal lies, there is no barrier; our world evaporates

into silver air and the stars warn me I must

stop being so naked all the time, being as

bare branches reaching through moonlight

for the hallowed sky, but I

am not ashamed to say

with this life

I want to touch both worlds,

I will touch both worlds.

©Susan Zegarsky  

Noise

I remember silence as a child alone, deep

silence, the droplets of rain gleaming in silence, in the stillness

after the rain moved on, pavement smooth silver, the small chirps

of black crickets becoming my symphony, my family

the unending silence of these moments no one else shared

teaching a small child

you don’t belong here

I remember the sounds of my children, joy

the loud the noise the laughter the clatter of the chase, battles

of swords and flurries of feet fleeing monsters, the shouting

of made up songs, a rumble of small bodies thundering by

and the stories that flowed like a river of belonging, the we

then the soft bird-singing and small quiet snuffles of breath,

the rustle of hair beneath my fingers, the feathering

of pages being turned

©Susan Zegarsky  

Far north

my mama left her body years before her body left us

every moment I tried to stop myself from thinking, stop the engulfing

silence, the tick tick tick of shoes in the hallways, the clocks, the fleeing

of the miniscule seconds left of life

she didn’t want to breathe at all, all I ever wanted was to breathe I held

on to this life with all my might

she never felt me there and I never felt her go we both

were robbed but now

I dream of the aurora in the far north, the sky glittering with diamond dust

and an electric infinity of meteor green

where the ice touches the sky

©Susan Zegarsky