Calypso - Editors' Choice

by Nelia Pistana

The island mistakes stillness for peace. It does not understand that a life without friction is a life that has never been tested. Everything here is untouched, which is another way of saying unproven.
 
This island is home,
A place she has made her own.
She is the everlasting haven.
 
She has moved through her days,
like time had chosen her.
Stillness is her mercy.
 
The island heals.
She feeds, she clothes, she protects her loves,
From the dangers beyond that still ocean.
For a scratch of her questioned wisdom illuminates the night.  
 
The offer she makes: You can stay.
The verdict made: You must stay.
 
Her days are endless,
Refusing to end.
 
Quiet in approach, even the ocean forgets its roar,
It whispers until you almost believe it was born silenced.
 
You finally look at yourself,
 
A gaping hole,
No scars,
No change,
An image of a life not lived.
 
The island, left with a vanishing body.
 
Escaping her is hard
but as she leaves your eyes,
The sea begins to roar.
​
Freedom is not gentle, but it gives back my name.