Not Quite Crises
  
           
   

-by Zinta Aistars

I was eighteen and the world,
as they say, was my oyster--
the kind you drink down raw,
let it slide easy down your throat,
lightly spiced, a touch peppery,
a slick and succulent aphrodisiac.

Even the pearl was mine,
grit mulled and churned and chewed,
worked over and over
by those with swelling hearts.

I'm three decades past that now.
The string of pearls has broken.
I chew new grit, tongue tip
drawn to that sore place
at the back tooth, a vague throbbing,
just enough to keep me up nights.

Empty oyster shells litter my pantry.
Sand spills between my fingers.

The swelling heart is mine--
fermenting dreams long gone to vinegar,
counterfeit loves that never quite warmed
beyond room temperature,
faith that remains lagging
but hopeful, ever hopeful
for another chance at the prom.

   
Continue >>
Zinta Aistars is the published author of three books in the Latvian language and has recently completed a second collection of poetry, Tumbleweed Waltz. She is an editor for LuxEsto, the Kalamazoo College alumni magazine in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, and has published poetry, travel essays, stories, and articles in the United States, Latvia, England, Sweden, Germany, and Australia. Her work also appears on many e-zines - including Ascent Aspirations Magazine (upcoming Nov 2005), Ash Canyon Review, Spoiled Ink, HerCircleEzine, Flashquake, 63Channels, The Redbridge Review, milk magazine, Word Riot, The Surface, Serene Light, River Walk Journal, Bobbing Around, The Moon, Burning Word, insolent rudder, coilMagazine, Poems Neiderngasse, QuietPoly Writers Magazine, The Paper, Poetry Life & Times, Midwest Book Review, and others. She publishes a monthly newsletter of marketing tips and inspiration for writers called Zeenythe Communications and is a newly anointed editor for the literary e-zine, insolent rudder.