A Writer Writes – Three Writers & Three Poems (page 3)



				Three Writers & Three Poems (cont.)

				The Air Is . . . by Meagan Pfeltz (Dominica 2000–01)

	Three Writers & Three Poems page 1, page 2, page 3			Stifling Sultry too hot and lazy breeze Making my own skin moist Clothes sticky The sun and the salt And the sand Stinging my eyes like fine grains of sugar Sweet and cloying On my tongue like mangoes Plump and juicy A rooster practices (smoldering) Trash (crows) in the dust-choked weeds Church choirs (bleat) Goats (sing) Mama-children cry-Mama Mama Mountains lush primordial amazons Leafy ferns graceful Razor grass stained with blood from my palm (trees swaying) Ocean gleaming azure womb Brilliant coral stunning Angel fish flying, darting, their fins are humming (birds longing for nectar) Their songs are more quiet than Rainbows Hello, good night, you okay Psst!, I like to see you, and Hey Baby Hey Not quite comfortable Perched on the edge here of Not quite home But more real Than the Technicolor land of the free And the brave and Purple Mountains Majesty Before and friends and family and we and us Now and he and she and they (and me) No one has frozen like caterpillars Cocooned waiting for butterfly birth CarsHousesBabiesWeddings Coveted moments-shared in limbo long distance Letters now and wishes on stars The same stars here as there And the moon Time here passes slow and fast and slow Happylonelyscaredsadshoutingsmilingcryinglaughing Dancing Dizzy living these days The air is . . .

				After unexpectedly finding herself "medically separated" due to a knee injury that required reconstructive surgery, Meagan Pfeltz has spent the past five months alternately wistfully reflecting upon her Peace Corps service and attempting to properly demonstrate her increased appreciation for non-starchy foods, air-conditioning and hot running water. Following a long and arduous job search, she will begin employment as an Administrative Assistant to the Director with the Population Leadership Program, an international project of the Public Health Institute.