Art: Teal Sea Hawk from Sea Hawk Series by Mick Ó Seasnáin
IF ONLY THE SWAN
(Lugano)
Dusk comes early to
a lake encircled
by five mountains.
A solitary swan stands
at the end of the pier
that seems to lead nowhere
as the fog rolls in
and cuts off its logical end.
On the boardwalk
fearless passeggiatori
reweave, with each step,
the ties that bind them
while a foreigner,
as loosely applied to life
as pigment to wet plaster,
huddles on a bench
at the edge of the liquid universe,
panic rising in his gullet
as the fog blends with the water
to become one sepulchral wall
the weight of stone
earth and water
against his chest
and he cannot rise.
If only the swan
would come back to shore.
About the author:
Toni La Ree Bennett’s verbal and visual work has appeared in Gold Man Review, Gravel, Poemmemoirstory, Puerto del Sol, Hawaii Pacific Review, Journal of Poetry Therapy, and Viet Nam Generation, among other publications. She is also a photographer and lives with a flock of feisty finches. Photography can be seen at tonibennett.com.
Art: Teal Sea Hawk from Sea Hawk Series by Mick Ó Seasnáin
In the artist’s words:
Mick Ó Seasnáin has continually attempted to farm his quarter acre lot in the small town of Wooster, Ohio while catering to the diverse and often unanticipated needs of his tripod-ish dog and three feral-ish children. His wife tolerates his creative habits and occasionally enables his binge writing. Find more of his work at https://tinyurl.com/
