Natalie Shapero
What did we do to the ocean to make it
hurl itself on the rocks like that,
no one to jump in after it—
Water fills me with horror.
PAINTING FILLS ME WITH HORROR
AS WATER DOES A RABID
DOG (Claude Monet). I feel awful
about comparing myself
to the ocean. I don’t have nearly
that much plastic in me. I can’t presume
to imagine what that’s like. I DON’T HAVE
ANY SEINE RIVER LIKE MONET. I’VE JUST GOT
the liminal space
between this world
and the next. This world fills me
with horror, how the water hits the light. WHAT
DID ONE CANDLE SAY TO THE OTHER?
LET’S GO
OUT TONIGHT.
Natalie Shapero is the author, most recently, of the poetry collection POPULAR LONGING (Copper Canyon, 2021) and the pamphlet TODAY HAMLET (Out-Spoken Press, 2023). She lives in Los Angeles.
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