flux.
a word whose very sound connotes its meaning, a sloshing state of change

a liquid moment,
for we solids,
of bone and flesh,

though
we may be islands of stolidity,
entrenched, focused, organized,
when the surround sounds
of change are all about
you too are
fluxed

the serenity of splendid isolation
is not an impervious shell,
close eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth
these liquid times we abode,
inescapable from the roller coaster of
crashing storms of our
environment

try as I might,
cannot recede into a
white sealed envelipe,
cannot secede from
the froth of current events,
in the age of no distances,
and the rotational revolution of
but one lever,
a single beating wing
can disrupt the
the supply and communication
channels of our normative existential machinations

let me retreat unto my poetry trance,
but that choice
is currently unavailable

be wary of the calm of routine,
we live in a time of
the olympics of change,
and we cannot walk
on water,
nor tread forever

flux.

the liquidity curse of our
ever curving intersections

El sol se despidió  
con un beso dorado  
sobre la pradera temblorosa.  

La luna,  
soberana de la noche,  
cerró los cielos azules  
y convocó a las auroras  
para tejer su manto estrellado.  

Las nubes desfilaron,  
mujeres ancianas  
agitando sus vestidos de algodón,  
dejando caer perlas blancas  
sobre las pestañas del mundo.  

Los pinos se abrazaron,  
rezumando niebla  
como ofrenda  
para los montes sedientos.  

El pasto enmudeció,  
aprendió a soñar  
bajo el edredón de nieve,  
bajo las cuentas de cristal  
que las nubes olvidaron.  

El ciervo, sabio,  
vistió su capa de escarcha,  
abrigándose con los susurros  
que el viento le prestó.  

El oso,  
rey de los sueños invernales,  
se hundió en su cueva  
y soñó con el verano:  
con sus hijos no nacidos,  
con la miel que aún no gotea  
entre sus garras.  

Y en el centro del bosque, el Espíritu de las Nieves teje coronas de escarcha para quienes aprenden a escuchar el silencio.

El río,  
poeta líquido,  
guardó sus versos  
bajo una costra de hielo,  
atesorando su vigor  
para la primavera.  

Esta luna no es cruel.  
Es nodriza  
que arrulla  
a los que eligen acompañarla.  

Y aunque el sol  
sea solo un recuerdo lejano,  
el invierno no es villano:  
es el maestro silencioso  
que nos enseña  
a vivir con el frío  
como compañero,  
no como enemigo.  

Mel Zalewsky.

Alcyone, my heart is yours alone,
Though waves may pull me, tearing love from shore.
Beneath the storm, the sea may drag my body,
Yet love defies the tide, it fights once more.

Fate’s hand may tear my flesh from bone,
Yet still, my soul resists the reaper’s sweep.
I will not cross where silence makes its home,
Not yet, my love. I vowed—and vows I keep.

You pull my body, drag me toward the black,
Yet love remains, though flesh may fall away.
I beg no mercy, ask no solemn pact,
For I am hers, I am bound to stay.
The tide may take, the wind may plead,
But I will not depart—Alcyone, heed.

Not yet. Not yet. Death calls, but I won’t go.
The sea may tear, but I am not undone.
A shadow lingers—whispered hands pull slow,
Yet love remains. I stay. My heart is one.

Alcyone, I call—do you still hear?
The tide may claim my breath, but not my name.
Not yet. Not yet. My vow will not disappear.
I swore, and I swear still. I’ll remain.

Alcyone. Alcyone. Alcyone.
I speak your name, though water fills my throat.
The tide may take, the reaper calls—
I will not go. I will not go.

Alcyone. Alcyone. Alcyone.
I swore, I swear, I will not fade.
If time dissolves, if fate decrees—
Still, my soul remains. Still, my soul remains.

The wind bears witness, crying as it blows,
Yet cannot answer, cannot promise when my love will return.
I wished to welcome him home, but all that ship brought back was sorrow.
I pray—I call—yet fate still turns the same.

Each night I kneel, my vow beneath the sky.
I whisper love, I beg the stars to weave his path home,
Yet morning breaks, and distance still divides.
The waves unyielding—bound by fate’s cruel rage.

They say my love was weak, was mute, was small.
They mistook silence for emptiness—as if words could prove love’s depth.
I do not owe them proof — Only to my love, I shall call.
My grief lingers, drowns, and cleaves itself from breath.
Rumors may lie, but on our behalf, the wind still pleads.
I've always been waiting, Ceyx— heed.

"You failed him," they whisper through the rain.
"You let him go—you sealed his fate."
Yet my hands tremble, failing to reach you.
My love remains. For you, alone, I still wait.

Ceyx, I call, if echoes reach beyond—
Do not believe the lies they whisper across water.
Your name still lingers soft upon my tongue.
Through night and day, my love still remains.

Ceyx. Ceyx. Ceyx.
I speak your name, though only the wind knows.
I call—but the tide does not return your soul.
I will not go. I will not let love drown.

Ceyx. Ceyx. Ceyx.
I swore, I swear, my love won’t fade.
If time dissolves, if fate decrees,
Still, I won’t let them take. Still, I’ll always wait.