This Little Slice of Life
This little slice of life
where morning mango melts on the tip
of your tongue so used to the taste
of sweet-sounding birds beckoning
sunrise, paired with the salty
screech of the horn whose honks
herald the traffic’s smog of
people passively pushing past,
this little slice of life. Where
summer storms steal the sky by surprise
but you don’t look
twice, chin titled towards the tears
that wash your face free
of hurried calls and flights, near
to the soul, the water hydrates
the seed of an idea tucked
in the cavity of the chest
sparked by sunlight drunk
through the delight
of youthful eyes
that wander the expanse
of a day and night
that only belong
to this little slice of life.
Unravel
the
moonlight silence,
punctuated by
a shrieking alarm,
shatters and folds—
the threads of the
comforter unravel,
leaving you bare.
the shrill cuts to bone
awakening the senses,
the lull of sweet
dreams dissipate with the
return of suffuse sorrow,
as clouds of confusion
fog an air, burdened
by heavy humidity,
constraining the chest.
realizing once more,
how daunting reality
presses the head
below the surface—
woken once more,
to the wicked
wondering of which
wayward lane
you should wander
as you seek
dry land.
Isabelle Foster (she/her) lives in Washington DC and grew up in New England, with an affinity for the forest and a proclivity for words. Often found running by the brook or with her head buried in a book, from a young age, Isabelle has cultivated a desire to write and capture in some small part the wonder and essence of the natural world and our experience within it. She currently works at the non-profit World Wildlife Fund (WWF), based in Washington, DC. Her work focuses on sustainable food systems and conservation for furthering planetary health and beneficial outcomes for people and planet. She believes writing is a lifestyle and power method for conveying emotion and activism—she finds inspiration in the smallest daily happenings, composing snatches of songs and narrating a novel all while walking to work. She is an emerging writer and has just started to submit her pieces for publication this year.
Featured image: ଜଗଦୀଶ ଉତ୍ତରକବାଟ, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
