‘I Am the Undertow’, ‘My Memories Live in Ashtrays’, ‘The Sand That I Am’, ‘Serene Storms’

Photographer - Tobi Brun

I Am the Undertow

The birds sing above me

urging I retreat

as I swim breaststroke

in a river

that cannot project me

forward

In my peripheral vision

I notice her

diving beneath the surface

plunging deep into

temptation

before reasoning

can circle overhead

I do not swallow

more than a mouthful of air

before I find myself

barreling down her trajectory

abandoning my

airborne adversaries

Submerged in the passion

of my pursuits

the song of the warblers

is drowned out by

the sloshing of seduction

relentless in its efforts

to overwhelm my eardrums

My Memories Live in Ashtrays

In the comfort

Of my living room

I light up

Might as well

Inhale these toxins

To rid myself of

Others

With each drag

There is a greater

Demand to

Withdraw

But I must

Poison the grief

That sits

In my lungs

A tray beside me

Holds discarded ends

Of recollection

There they live

Trapped in soot

Covered creases

A reminder of

Memories that

Never finished

Burning

The Sand That I Am

It is sand that

Rains down glass

The beads

Of an hour

Dropping to

Their death

As am I

For I too

Am sand

Measured by

The minute

Often stuck

In unreachable

Crevices

Once I was

Stone

But I was

Broken down

Weathered

For the better

I am still unsure

It is sand that

Serves

As a vessel

For rebirth

Is this

The sand

That I am

Serene Storms

I awake to

summer’s storm

pecking at my window

in the early hours

of morning before

the sun tries to

peek from behind

clouds concealing

its shine. A calm

washes over with

the rain tapping

on roof shingles,

creating a concord

that coincides with

rumblings of the earth.

There is no light aside

from brief illuminations

casting shadows

of shaking trees

on shutters bearing

the wind’s rage.

Calamity prevails

outside, but within

my heartbeat settles.

I am delighted by

this interlude.

Alyssa Troy is an English teacher in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She received her B.A. from Rider University and has an M. Ed. from both Cabrini and Eastern University. Her poems are published or forthcoming in Blue Unicorn, Cool Beans Lit, In Parentheses, 300 Days of Sun, The Road Not Taken as well as other journals and magazines. She is the author of Transfiguration (2020).