Alysha DePerna- Three Poems

Definitions

We build lines
those imaginary lines,
or maybe it’s just me

Half the time I feel like we’re
in on this mess together,
and others, I’m pretty sure
I’m the only mind these thoughts occupy

Nothing solid
other than want and hope,
and want and hope,
are nothing more than gluttons for punishment

These are all words
and I know I am full of them
words are not promises
words are not glue
words are not a definition
of anything



Rhythm

I am tired,
perpetually tired
I ache from fatigue

My body vibrates from months
of pent up emotion

I radiate with pure, unequivocal sadness
liquid sadness,
the kind that fills you up so full
your chest beats against the rhythm of the waves

I heave from trying to hold it all in



Steam

I’m fascinated by the unsweetened
and undiluted
uninterested in people’s tastes
like my coffee,
I prefer you in full-strength
and searing hot
able to rouse my weary, idle heart



Alysha DePerna lives in Rochester, NY and is a recent graduate of St. John Fisher College. A writer by day and a reader by night, she is loathe to discuss herself in the third person, but can be persuaded to do so from time to time. She enjoys traveling, reading obscure novels, and correcting people’s grammar.