Chris Antzoulis: Contemplating Emily And Effortless Living On The Drive Home

Contemplating Emily And Effortless Living On The Drive Home

I want to live a life like Dickinson,

using capital letters to stroll with everything

there is, and was, and could be.

I want to hold hands with everything

that doesn’t, didn’t, or could never

feel the creases on my palms,

or comfort me in death –

How absurd it is, at least to me,

to contemplate a life where the Chesapeake

is swallowed in thirst,

grasping, with outstretched fingers, at the hulls

of the Monitor and Merrimac,

begging for swift, ironclad,

execution –

How preposterous my face would look,

distorted behind estuaries,

when the windshield of my Toyota

breaks over the crest of I-664

to find the Sun has been snuffed

out by endless ramps of spiraling

concrete –

How grim.

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Chris Antzoulis is a New York-based poet and comic book writer with an MFA in writing from Sarah Lawrence College. His poetry has appeared in Yes Poetry, Newtown Literary, and Cowbird. He has also helped other writers reach audiences through his work with literary magazines such as Madcap Review and Lumina. He currently lives in Queens, NY with his two evil cats and teaches creative writing at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY.