Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Maria A. Arana

all looks the same


the painting by my window

hovers against a grassy backdrop

that shouldn’t belong inside

even the bookcases vanish

blending into the grassy plain

 

the painting stares at me

still life on black

white highlights

accentuate the round bellies

I reach out to steady it

but my hands vanish into the green grass

 

turning away

my room spins on its side

my bed is pinned to the wall/floor

and the painting crashes down

the grass consuming me

and all is the same

 

 

Blow


missing

            missing beat

talking like the words mattered

            but steps glide

                        gliding

            past it

 

no no no

            no

he can’t use words like that

no no no

            no

he can’t come in here

    thinking like it’ll all pass

 

missing

            missing beat

thumping heart slow down

            but steps glide

                        gliding

            past it

 

then all the words unsaid

            can’t be used like that

no no no

            no

they can’t



 

Ode to a Pen

 

when I wake in the middle of the night

it is you where I reach

my fingers wrap around you

 

I can scroll down words

Recently conceived in dreams or nightmares

thoughts on scenes for my latest novel

 

when I seek comfort from the keyboard

I reach for your cylindrical body

and ink on paper ensues

 

you become the extension of what I am

what I think

thoughts which cannot escape unless jotted down

 

when the cold metal contacts my fingertips

I warm you up with my palm and together

we form the strength to produce various words on the page

 

don’t take it the wrong way

if I tire of writing

it’s only the arthritis

 

but you know you’re the first one I go to

whether black, green, blue, purple, or red

thoughts never die


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