Visiting Cape Perpetua at 17
Once again, we are inside a
car together, peering
out the window in wonder
how many times I don’t really
know because they
all seem like one
because when we open the door
and step out, we are
always standing on
a cliff, me trying not to look at
the bandages on your
wrists, both of us
trying - so hard - to seem
like the free spirits we
try to sell, laughing too
loud, always trying to outdo
each other, you in
outrageous rebellion
me in creating my own
world closed to any
other eyes
both of us trying with
everything we
have just
to breathe
Judith Mikesch-McKenzie is a teacher, writer, actor and producer in the Pacific Northwest. She has traveled widely, but is always drawn to the Rocky Mountains as one place that feeds her soul. Writing is her home. She has recently placed/published in two short-story contests, and been nominated for Best Of The Net and Pushcart. Her poems have appeared in Calyx A Journal of Art and Literature, Her Words, Monterey Poetry, Cirque, Wild Roof Journal, Clackamas Literary Review, and over 40 others. She is a wee bit of an Irish curmudgeon, but her friends seem to like that about her.
Once again, we are inside a
car together, peering
out the window in wonder
how many times I don’t really
know because they
all seem like one
because when we open the door
and step out, we are
always standing on
a cliff, me trying not to look at
the bandages on your
wrists, both of us
trying - so hard - to seem
like the free spirits we
try to sell, laughing too
loud, always trying to outdo
each other, you in
outrageous rebellion
me in creating my own
world closed to any
other eyes
both of us trying with
everything we
have just
to breathe
Judith Mikesch-McKenzie is a teacher, writer, actor and producer in the Pacific Northwest. She has traveled widely, but is always drawn to the Rocky Mountains as one place that feeds her soul. Writing is her home. She has recently placed/published in two short-story contests, and been nominated for Best Of The Net and Pushcart. Her poems have appeared in Calyx A Journal of Art and Literature, Her Words, Monterey Poetry, Cirque, Wild Roof Journal, Clackamas Literary Review, and over 40 others. She is a wee bit of an Irish curmudgeon, but her friends seem to like that about her.
