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Unsatisfactory Deal

Rolling waters                   you have been robbed of purification                                 restoration

                                                   despite 

                                                   your relentless circulation of salt and foam

I see                                         diluted                                                                                                   satisfaction  

I dawdle                                 along your turbid shores and

I note                                       the debris around you                                                       scattered at will  

I hear                                       seductive voices looping in a conch shell

I lift                                          greedily listening to the sounds of                                  the great vast

I ponder                                 the inside only to learn  

                                                   messages within are simply echoes                                rushing noise

                                                   from the immediate environment

I wait                                       in containment                                                                                 unattended

I feel                                        yearning vibrations on wind                       from sheltered distances

                                                   while in backyards aquifers strain  

                                                   and store                                                                                                     opinions

                                                   and negotiate atmospheric pressure                                      preparing 

                                                                                                                                            to receive the next drill.


​                                                                                                                                                                      —Kay Cook



Kay L. Cook holds a BA in Secondary Education, an M.Ed in Special Education, and certification as a school psychologist. Born and raised in Michigan and now living in New York, she has instructed and written about miscommunications due to racial, cultural and mental health differences.