Poem

When I See You

/ Katrina Kaye

Katrina Kaye

I count
backwards
from sixty;

I hold
air in lungs
and try to
stop this
involuntary reflex.
A compulsion
to fight or flight.
An urge to
lose myself
in stale memories.

I take turns
breathing life
in and out
like the moon
pulls her tides
and overlook the
heart I left
soaking in
jars of
formaldehyde
awaiting
resurrection.

It is easy
to reclaim the
fleeting fervor
of yesteryear
in quick anticipated
gasps held in chest.

“When I See You” is previously published in Rabbits for Luck (2016).

Sway

/ Katrina Kaye

Katrina Kaye

I could sway
in ways
unwritten.
I could linger,
hands clenched
and wrapped.

Let me love myself
all over you.

I would
simply reach,
touch,
scrape the muscle
of your back,
embrace the
burden of
your weight
on shoulder.

Pinned here,
rib bones peek
through flesh,
body held
in place,
puzzle pieces
align.

“Sway” is previously published in They Don’t Make Memories Like That Anymore (2011).

Water

/ Katrina Kaye / 9 Comments

Katrina Kaye

I want to be
river:

persisting despite rocks
and debris,
moving forward
until the discovery of peace
distinct as reflection
in puddling pond’s
shimmering surface.

I want to be
ocean:

calm when captured,
but contain currents
with the capacity to
overturn ships
and drown a man.

I want to be
rain:

unpredictable as the
size of each drop,
holding the promise
of life as well as the
threat of storm.

I want to be
water:

content to fish bowl,
yet curious for more.
shapeless and vast,
heavy and ethereal.

Like water,
I want to be strong,
indiscernible,
and necessary.

“Water” is previously published in Rabbits for Luck (2016).