“Paradise Lost” by Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti
Summer, late afternoon
light pink-golden beach
the soft waves that
foam, gather at the ankles
so delicate, so precise
sweet impression of foot
in damp sand, the sun-
bathers pack up, folding
brightly colored umbrellas
beneath red, freckled arms.
In the half-light, the end of
day is endless, stretching
resisting earth’spin, turning
away from the sun.
We sift and build a sand-
castle, magnificent, bejewelled
with gathered shells, the image
I capture in the blink of
my lens where it endures forever,
the permanent impermanent.
Then you, with one gentle,
fatal leap you heave
your body toward its walls
a brief smile as you fall
in slow-motion, collapsing
the moat, mother of pearl
flying through the air like
fish-scales and silver,
an ordinary boy who waits
the long, hot day for the
thrill of the moment when
his feet leave the ground
his whole being in the movement
just before he hits the mark,
the mark he knows he’ll make
the heavy thud of his body
as it slaps against the sand.
I would prefer the tide
take it, the night winds erase it.
Now here, now gone
that split-second mid-air
I see your eyes clear
as green marbles rolling
gently in the moment
before paradise is lost.
Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti
Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti is a writer and editor. Her work has been widely published,
both in the United States and abroad. Her work has appeared in both print and
online journals including Orion, The Boston Globe, The
Harvard Review, FireWeed, Prism International, Le
Tribune Mondiale, Boston Book Review, Illuminations, Adagio
Verse Quarterly, Lit.org, Underground Window, and many other
publications.
Her first book, Eels, a novella and selected poems, was published by
Alyscamps Press in Paris, France and London. At present, Sadi is the editorial
director of tant mieux available
at www.tantmieux.squarespace.com and
a regular contributor to several well-known journals and zines including the
famous Cleveland Blogcritics.org where
she is
an almost daily columnist and Hearsay.com,
a newswire for which she is an editorial director. Her Web site was voted as
an outstanding site by SquareSpace and sampled by ZuDfunck. Please feel free
to contact her directly through the site or the
contact link at tant
mieux.
