gene fehler

 

 

Islands


Propped on pillows on an island of sheets,
she tries to reach her bedside bell,
gives up, closes her eyes, calls to her
children, grandchildren, all ships sailing
somewhere in seas far beyond thick bedroom
walls that constrain her cracked voice:
"Water, can someone bring me water?"

Propped on pillows, she stops calling,
pretends it is yesterday and she is young
again, swimming her way through treacherous
waves, across seas toward the island
where her newborn child cries out.
She reaches shore before tears begin.

Her pillows seem like clouds; she feels
herself sinking and sees her bell just
beyond her reach. She calls once more for
water, her voice softer now, muffled,
her words drowned out by her bedroom's
surging waves crashing on her island,
washing her toward uncharted lands.



Gene Fehler's poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and periodicals, including Rattle, The Nebraska Review, Naugatuck River Review, and Willow River. He also has three published young adult novels: Beanball (Clarion Books, 2008), Never Blame the Umpire (Zonderkidz, 2010), and Forced Out (Darby Creek, 2012). He is an avid reader, with more than 7,000 books in his personal library. He also has had the pleasure of playing roughly 80 softball and baseball games a year near Seneca, SC, where he lives with his wife Polly and their two toy poodles.

 

back to issue 21

take me home