Poetry by TAK Erzinger

                        Olly Aston CC

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Empty

Never left behind in the manner of 
a snail shell abandoned at the lip of a garden
lying open, a cavity,                                     exposed.

Never left behind in the manner of 
a plastic bottle adrift, on the hem of a calm, unconcerned sea,
the catch of a star fish to an unknown destination.

Not in this manner.

Left behind
little relics comprised of flesh and bone from a marriage,
a filling that once kept the foundation in place.

Left behind
developing souls, vessels half full, wasted,
as a thirst is quenched elsewhere.

Left behind
Leaving a vacuum, an open wound
children’s voices, sound unheard, a gaping hole unable to heal.

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Orphan
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When your mother decides to leave,
do you tell the world?

What if everyone thinks it’s your fault?

You could pretend it didn’t happen, 
never talk about it and over-compensate with many things, become an awesome painter
share your artwork full of hidden meaning.

Maybe people will forget to ask.

It will push you to develop in ways you never imagined, maybe ways she would’ve been proud of, if she’d been around.

Like how you can really dance, the way she could always dance, the way you followed her steps to the beats of all the albums she bought you,
holding hands, she’d swing you around and around, pulling you close and pushing you back,
keeping you spinning,
you’d hear, I’ll always be there for you.

It’s not what she said though.

She was only singing.

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TAK Erzinger is an American/Swiss poet and artist with a Colombian background. Her poetry has been featured in Bien Acompañada from Cornell University, The Muse from McMaster University, River and South Review, Wilkes University and more.  Her debut poetry collection entitled, “Found: Between the Trees” was published by Grey Border Books, Canada 2019. Her latest unpublished poetry manuscript “At the Foot of the Mountain” was short-listed by the Eyelands Book Awards and has been accepted for publication by Floricanto Press out of California.

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