Poem of the Day: “Surface-Dwelling” by Sierra July, Frequent Contributor & Poet of the Week

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “Surface-Dwelling” by Sierra July, a Songs of Eretz Frequent Contributor and this week’s Poet of the Week.  A biography of the poet may be found in our “About Our Editor & Frequent Contributors” section.

Surface-Dwelling

Sierra July

Capsized, shipwrecked, the cold wreaths me

Shivering warms my blood; a sight warms my spirit

An island, miles and miles off, a golden dot above blue

I swim, and swim, and sink, and swim.

Water becomes molasses, sticking to me, slowing me

But I churn with my spaghetti arms, aching for that

Island dot that manages to stay out of reach

Differentiating saltwater and sweat, impossible

My eyes blur, failing to make out blue and blue of sky and water,

Bronze of island or broken sun, so I can’t use them, so I swim

With eyes shut, churning, churning, hoping

My fingertips touch land, one day

Poet’s Notes: Here I wanted to capture the terror of disaster as well as a glimpse (or illusion) of hope. I like to think this person’s experience has a happy end.