Published May 1st, 2023
Poetry Contest #16 – First Place
by Adam L. Treitler
(Astoria, New York, United States)
This morning I woke in heliocentric consciousness
last night's nectar-laced dreams
steeped in sun-baked eucalyptus
my sweat-stained silhouette
clinging to my backlit pupils
like a dehydrated koala
Last night I learned the boiling point of midnight
falls somewhere between a broken heart and an
Instagram push notification
there is no scale for measuring the speed
at which happiness escapes a crowded room
no benchmark for miles per hour or meters per second
at which bliss careens off curved roads
into decapitated forests
The scent of uncertainty lingers
like a melted candle in a public restroom
the drip-drip-drip of a sink powered
by the gesture of an extended hand
the faucet never quite off
never quite on
as if the meaning of life
is inertia
With Newtonian Gravitas
I fall (in perpetuity)
into the Malthusian trap
the thoughts that populate my head
will eventually exhaust the serotonin
Whether revolving the sun
or spinning aimlessly into the cosmos
there is a hollow point between my ribs
a space for rotting memory
or perhaps a space for something new
Biography
Adam L. Treitler is a human capital technology expert with a background in computer science, poetry, creative writing, and film production.
By day he operates as a product manager at a major technology company, by night he consumes literature and composes original works of poetry and flash fiction.
Having studied under former New York state Poet Laureate, Marie Howe, Adam's poetry centers on concepts of self, identity, and community.
Next in Wax Poetry and Art Magazine #1:
Lost and Other Poems
by Chidiebere Madeuke
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