Where-Wave
I will see you at the place where the wave
breaks, where the exacted horizon
reverts for an instant framed in your
dazzled pupils, where my palms hold
the shivering breath of the water.
Boulders collapse underfoot
then renew themselves on my lips
as I speak the last word that unites us
and breaks us, the unstable rupture
of foam and senses, of mouths and hands.
A Birth in the Depths
The day of waiting begins, body
unfolding in rivulets
of pain, blood pulling on the dark
weight of the womb, twisted
in knotty labyrinths of waves: hope
and the sunken smooth stone
of loss and desire.
The rusted bell tolls: her hands
are translucent, her first
breath has the salty
scent of the sea.
Cages
Sometimes at dawn I can see
secret black flowers held deep
inside the uneven stalk of plants,
the spark of never lit fires:
coaxing escape, waiting for
unknown domains to disclose
The cage of the skin holds its secrets
a darkness that blossoms inside
Unbinding Spell Pantoum
The golden mouth of the sun swallows you.
A voice calls from the depths of the sea
enchanting your figure into fulldisappearance,
your smile impermanent, your eyes in full shade
A voice calls from the depths of the sea
the last wave of sound fulfills your abstraction
your smile impermanent, your eyes in full shade
and you are gone, like a stone in the well.
The last wave of sound fulfills your abstraction
no single reflection survives on the water
and you are gone, like a stone in the well.
The golden mouth of the sun swallows you.
Eaten by the Sea
It sits at the heart of the sea:
you find it in the folded depths
beneath the weight of the water
in the nuanced tint of algae,
in retorted sea-fingers seeking
a way to the surface.
What waits at the heart of the sea? What
makes the abyss-red creatures vibrate
as a faint breeze caresses
the unfurled skin of the waves?
The hunger in the cavernous heart
of the sea is the one at the core of your own.
Federica Santini lives in Atlanta and teaches at Kennesaw State University. She holds an MA from the University of Siena, Italy, and a PhD from UCLA. She has authored or edited four volumes on poetics and her poetry has been published in numerous journals in North America and Europe. Her 2021 poetry chapbook, Unearthed, is forthcoming with Kelsay Books.