Thea Monje

30 January 2018
Professor Anne Waldman
LITR 1151W

Writing Sample: The Restless Desk

Rough

A cup of black coffee slid off of the table as I peered into eyes of gold-laden sable,
slaves to the waves that heaved to and fro,
we listened to voices that roared up from below-
the crew's clamor was raucous, hurried, unyielding,
trying to soothe the ship they were shielding
from the breakers of water that pounded its stern,
those which would vanish, and swell, and approach, and return-
so long as the ocean continued to churn.

I lie on the deck, my face mirrors the sky,

and in my chest is a deer heard attempting to fly
an army of hooves all vying for wings
as the ship heaves again, port, then starboard it swings.

To the horizon I stare casting out prayers for a shore

while begging forgiveness from the sea I adore,
like a furious lover wiping tears from their face
like salt water spilling off metal but at a much slower pace.

In the swell a coffee had tumbled,

in the surge a tide had turned,
a zephyr’s bride forgiven
a seaside mistress spurned.
the island children i grew up with, 2001-

ayla, allie, zack, and sally cover the country and travel by-valley.
barrett and blaize in a haze, blaize and barrett fighting over a carrot.
cole, and cora, caleb, campbell, celeste and cally, all preceded by clayton:
dakota’s in a class with both eli and peyton.
ezrah, ezekiel, esthreya, and ebben, ezrah, born, as ebben turned seven.
Fiona, older than fisher, and fisher older than ford,
gideon is ayla’s child—ebben, thorin, ezrah—three uncles of the wild horde.
heather, turtle, blaize and chase,
we tell turtle to come out of his shell but he runs off across trails of smoke,
blaized, chasing the boys through fields of heather.
iré and eli, best friends, making a beeline for where the shore ends.
jayden and jacques have jaixen in a deadlock, fighting over peanut butter,
kiegan, kiley, kiera, kelly, everybody’s smiling though there’s sand in the jelly.
lots of salty little babies.
marlin, like the fish, then millie, maddy, mason, mathias, moira and macy,
noble—dimpled, screaming, ever-trailing stacy.
orrin, older than millie, champ and lisa, billy and mary in the living room, collins and oliver.
peyton comes back around, right past eli and onto the littlefields,
quentin and evalene, not mason or allie or dakota, followed by
reis, rowan, ruby, rory, riley, then nine conants past the halls and kiley,
sarah, mary, haley, missy,
tom, chris, james, jim, roger, and richie.
understand that this is as strange for you as it is for me,
violet, ellis, and mac are high up in a tree,
whitney, wesley, wow; lesley’s married to a wyatt now.
x marks the spot and
you really found it, somehow.
zack.