Poetry: Selections from Alexa Lesniak

Limbo

A place

I have waited

in my whole life, not quite

there

but almost. A hands

grasp away, fingers slipping

through each

other, figures flowing

from the dark. Three

yellow lights.

Do you press the pedal further?

Hair raveled by

the wind, fingers

grasped to the steering

wheel, lights smeared

into violent colors – the world

to a Rorschach test. I am

running down

the shoreline – nothing

but sand, constant

sand, a million grains

into a landslide. My body

falling, sinking, absorbed into

eternity.

One drop of raw rain

lands and the sky

opens: swallows

me. Take me into the clouds

and cloak me. Rain me back

into the soft water

-soaked grass. Like a doe

bedded down

for winter, leaves

cover me. A gentle

hand on the back

of my neck, “I am

here now,

honey.”

Fluttering

eyes, head pressed

to the cool window. Smooth

white sheets, cold stream

water, the open

ocean spilling

from the cliffs

of Point Reyes. A lighthouse stands

at the end

of a dusty road.

One path. Bright rays.

I reach

into the dust. Fingertips

emerge. Paint me. Paint

us. Hand

to hand –

almost.

Walk.

I live there – you live there

in the space between nowhere

and everywhere.

The sweet Spoon Leaved Moss tucked

into each cramped crack in the concrete.

Step on it.

A blue balloon ribbon tangled into

Queen Anne’s Lace. Look away.

The sky is scribbled on

as man chases the sun. The deafening

sounds of unnaturalness.

A young Horned Lark shredded

by man's metal wings.

Look at him.

Pick up his corpse.

Then set it on fire.

Tear into his soft flesh

with your jagged teeth.

$5.50 for hot wings.

You live here, I live here.

The moss, the flower, the bird,

lived here.

In the space between anguish and finite freedom.

Alexa Lesniak is a current English major at the University of Maryland. Poetry has always been a safe place for her. She finds her inspiration through nature, especially in the tiny aspects no one seems to notice. This can be seen in her pieces, as almost all of them connect back to her environment. Alexa is originally from the Philadelphia area, and since moving away from home, she has turned to poetry once again. She hopes that by being open about her struggles, others will feel inspired to do the same.