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February 15, 2022

The Wizard and The Wiser, By Ryan E. Holman

 

I wandered in the desert

until I found my way 

to an astrologer.

She told me to seek a Virgo;

instead, I seem to have found virga.

 

Impressive clouds race toward me

sweeping up my senses

stoking my anticipation

until at last rain falls 

toward the cracked, impatient ground.

 

But then it stops.

 

Halfway down the sky

the rain evaporates

hanging like ribbons

tauntingly close

yet still out of reach.

 

I tire of building walls

on which to stand

to try and quench my thirst.

I tire of wandering

with my eyes wanting an oasis

so badly that I hallucinate;

I tire of the tantalizing mirage,

lush and green yet

having neither depth nor substance.

 

If you want me, I will be here, 

continuing to chart my path 

by the positions of the stars and moon.

But I will not spend energy to scale walls

that will never reach your raindrops

regardless of how much I desire to drink.













Ryan E. Holman has published poetry in the Silver Spring/Takoma Park Voice and was featured thrice in the Third Thursday Takoma Park Reading Series. In 2016 and 2021, she won third prize in the Baltimore Science Fiction Society’s poetry contest. Ryan lives in the Washington, DC area.


Cover Design: Amanda Bergloff 

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