“Lovers in the Age of Airmail” by Kelly Cressio-Moeller
There is a reason it is called longhand.
Writing takes time to winnow out
the artifice in blue-black script.
You write each other page after page,
month upon month, year after year;
your cursive cross-stitching the Atlantic,
soaring over slate rooftops
through the open windows
of each other’s lives, entwining
yourselves as Chagall’s lovers.
You learn patience in narrow beds,
the ache of missing someone
you’ve never met. Standing near
the water’s edge, you watch fireworks
burst and fade, a snowfall of hot stars
dissolving on separate oceans.
And then, nothing more
can be said with ink and paper.
As he swims to your shore—brace yourself.
There is no turning back
from this desire, a quickening
like rivulets of water gliding
off the blades of his shoulders
when he steps from the sea.
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Kelly Cressio-Moeller Artist Statement:
Kelly Cressio-Moeller is a poet and visual artist. Her poems have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best New Poets, and Best of the Net, appearing widely in journals including North American Review, Salamander, THRUSH Poetry Journal, Water~Stone Review, and ZYZZYVA. She lives in Northern California. “Shade of Blue Trees” (Two Sylvias Press, Finalist for the Wilder Prize) is her first poetry collection. Visit www.kellycressiomoeller.com
