Paper Swans
- She used to revel in the swans outside her window,
- enjoying their summers in the safety of their aquatic
- oasis. Departure of autumn, homecoming spring. The lake
- sparkled for her with their presence. Habitat a true home.
- Then, ice encrusted flowers dripped into the lake along
- with their ink splotches and mansion success.
- She watched everyday awaiting their almighty
- return. Stark white erased from the murk and the moss.
- But their absence persisted so she confronted the
- sullied sea. Crafted from her fingers and the
- paper from school, she made her own swans to
- populate the lake. The folds floated in the current.
- Quickly the fibers dissolved into their own reflections. Stark
- white enveloped by the murk and the moss. Empty forevermore.
Our Mother
- I heard her crying one night
- Not when it was raining but
- While shrouded in moonlight
- I ran out to the wheat field and offered her my hand
- I heard her crying one night
- Like a child through the walls
- Tucked into my synthetic tight
- I should have shed my skin and burned it for her
- I heard her crying one night
- But I was too busy expanding
- Forgetting green was her right
- The cries were drowned out by the change in palm
The Earth on My Counter
- I cracked the Earth on my counter like an egg.
- Peeling the shell, I expected to find tar and despair,
- but there was hope, a note, and a bright yellow yolk.
- “We still have the faculty and time to beware.”
Gianna is a junior at Moravian University, studying English and Art History. She works on the literary magazine The Manuscript at her school. She has lived in the Lehigh Valley for the majority of her life and is happy to be continuing her education in the area. She is interested in both poetry and short fiction and hopes to share her voice with the world.
- SLV 2023 Table of Contents
- Voices of the Valley – Alphabetic List of Authors
- Sustainable Lehigh Valley booklet
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