A Poem by Tejan Green Waszak

Distant Dreamers

 

This bridge crumbles behind me

as I race swiftly to the other side

No time to look back

though in my haste

I dare

to look down at the water

and imagine

a more

honorable battle

ending in the belly of a mammal

whose respect I’ve gained

for my tireless effort

though tragically

this will

in the body

of one with more might

may have a different

outcome

Obviously

I am no match for you

In this complicated game

there is no end

and you are receding

Further and further

some force pushes you out

into the dark

night on night skin

the air

intensifies

filled

with

salty suffocation

Mouth agape

requesting answers

there are none

You never dare ask

rejection is looming

You are slipping away

In the silence

your face shines brilliantly

for a moment

there is pleasure

a chance

to study you

In another city we could be strangers

pretend

we are innocent

Your noble face

could go quite far

in another place

Tendering

 

 

 

Tejan Green Waszak is a New York based writer, educator and doctoral student. She received an MFA in Creative  Writing from Long Island University and a BA in Journalism from Hunter College. She can often be found consulting with writers about their work in the writing center of Columbia University.