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Karen
Kelsay Tuesday, 18 November 2008

Karen Kelsay

The Scent of Calm

read by nic
sebastian

We grew from eager to
angry, as people braided
together like vines
through hot corridors. Twisted

into lines after nine
hours of flight, we wrapped
around rails, wilted and
pale. One man, his face

a tight red bud, exploded:
They only have one agent!
And with that, we each dug
further into our private

plots of tragedy, beneath
hand bags and luggage.
Then she quietly sprung up
from behind, humming

a delicate song. It wove
through the field of people
like honeysuckle, and
stemmed the withering

atmosphere. I never knew
the woman or the melody,
only the scent of
calm.

© Amanda
Orth

Forever in Avalon

read by carla
martin-wood

It rests on her teak
dresser beneath
the mirror. Small pink
shells

edge each side. Abalone
chips shine
along the lid that, when
lifted,

reveals ruby-colored silk.
On holiday,
she purchased it from a
small booth

next to the saltwater
taffy shop. That evening,
South Pacific played in
the casino. Stars

blinked from the theater
dome, upon murals
of swirling mermaids. She
sat in her red

velvet seat, like a pearl
in a jewelry box
as Some Enchanted Evening
played.

When lights dimmed,
curtains swept together
like a hinge--and trapped
her in
Avalon.

Karen Kelsay grew up near the Pacific, and loves writing poetry
about the sea.  She attended college in Anchorage, Alaska, and
studied art and history, then devoted much time to traveling, for leisure,
and the sake of gathering impressions, for writing poetry. Her first book,
Collected poems, was published in June 2008, and a chapbook called “A Fist
of Roots” will be published this year by Puddinghouse Press.  She
lives with her husband in Torrance, just a short distance from the beach,
where she still looks for writing subjects and inspirations.

© 2008 Soundzine

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