Redwood
Poetry

me, you, and the calla lilies

Aja Lelchuk

March/May 2022
  • Home
  • Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Emerging Writers
    • Emerging Writers Submissions
  • Archive
    • 2022-23
    • 2021-22
    • 2020-21
    • 2019-20
    • 2018-19
  • About
    • Masthead
    • Writers
    • Contact
always wondering
what you might be seeing

next to the pond with the calla lilies

i dove into the murky water
down deep
no man’s land
past the lily pads
the frogs with the crazed eyes
the fish with armor
down deep

to the benthic zone
said hi to sediments and soil
became sediments and soil
watched as the lily pads, frogs, and fish
sank too

but you never sank

i wondered if you had
discovered faces in clouds
faces in petals and stems of daisies
(flower crowns laid beside you)
faces in holes of your shoes
faces in faces
lines next to your mother’s smile
in the stubble of your father’s beard

you sang a soft song
“a circle is round it has no end”

i wondered if you had seen in circles yet
circles in your cup that had yet to be halfway full
(term your father might use to get you through hard times)
felt the round curves of the man in the moon
(confide in him with your secrets)
saw there is no end to this

vegetable prep on monday
cough drops on tuesday
toothy smiles and happy feet on wednesday
bundle of garden flowers on thursday
and friday
i’ll be waitin’ down the line
hugging you with my branches and tickling you with my leaves

because composting was kind to me
i hatched with
the tadpoles
the fish eggs
the budding lily pads

me and you and the pond with the calla lilies
Copyright © 2019-2022 Redwood Literary Magazine. All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Emerging Writers
    • Emerging Writers Submissions
  • Archive
    • 2022-23
    • 2021-22
    • 2020-21
    • 2019-20
    • 2018-19
  • About
    • Masthead
    • Writers
    • Contact