Published January 15th, 2025
NYC Poetry Contest #3 – First Place
by Iva Ticic
Is that I travel it in a continual
loop – daily, I catch myself looking
forward to-
wards the water.
Every-single-morning the East River,
its very translucent ripples,
makes my journey into Manhattan
something to sweetly savor.
Be presently present
you're crossing water
you're made of it
your molecules rejoice at it–
my brain neurons light up
like a winning slot machine
as I focus – intently
on the lolling
between banks.
This, they call mindfulness.
I call it – commute.
Manhattan appears, so vertical
and so serious – it means business.
I call to it – I say:
Good morning,
You fucking giant.
I've dreamed of you all night.
And if the light reflects off the side
of glass-covered panels,
the skyscrapers wink back.
They understand my compliments.
They know, how long I've longed
for us to be this intimate. How long I've stalked them
through pictures and screens –
Wanting to belong to them
by mere proximity.
I should say, they humor me.
But the water, always only the water,
somehow speaks to me. Some say we are ash,
and to dust we shall return. I say: the Water.
It is the bodies of water my body is made of.
It whirls and it eddies, grows large and recedes.
About the Poet
Iva Ticic resides in Brooklyn, New York, United States.
Read the poet's biography on Iva Ticic's Artist Page.
This poem is featured in Wax Poetry and Art Magazine #6,
published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Previously published in NYC Poetry Magazine:
Weekend Plans
by Grace Sanford
NYC Poetry Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
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