WE, we
walk the distance every day
in silence,
while the blank pages of Hollywood fill with
the meaningless chatter of fictional delinquents.
And we, we
have nothing to say,
minds now devoid of philosophy,
hearts emptied by the running course
of perpetual love…

So we beat on:
balancing the boat at each of its ends
with the weight of our two bodies, struggling
against the current.
You keep bringing others aboard,
weighing down at your end, and I am left
fighting to keep us afloat:
I want to reach you but can’t.
Stuck at the point of tension, 
the position of equilibrium and harmony, 
yet inwardly disturbed, 
I am only to look
and suffer.

Even though I want
to sleep forever, I can’t close my eyes, not ever, 
for I am
the vigilant one, the servant of the fateful gondola.
I thought I can bear anything, 
anything but the hurtful sights that,
when I glance unnoticed at your end, 
cause me
snapshots of jealousy.

No.
I can endure it all. I still do
to this day.
But in calm seas now
we stand and look across and look away
and look at each other
again
in silence.
This I cannot withstand. 

Antonia Wolf is a young writer and blogger (www.wolfwrites.com) from Bulgaria, currently living and studying in New York. She aspires to be recognized as a poet and playwright with an affinity for reinventing classical themes in a modern context. Previous work was published in Peaking Cat Poetry, The Fountain, and College Life (at the American College of Sofia).