Landlocked by Bethany Colas

A southeasterly wind 

feels different down here–

barely ruffles my hair

like the long limbs 

of a weeping beech 

hanging languidly 

over brick walls

brushing the bowed 

heads of strangers 

passing underneath,

while a potted olive tree 

on someone’s 

seventh-floor balcony,

waves frantically.

If I could be moved

by the invisible breath, 

I’d choose to be 

like the landlocked gull 

above the city,

gliding in and out 

of unseen waves, 

wings splayed–reaching 

like every mother who’s ever 

thrown her arms wide

to tell her small child

“I love you this much”

as if the whole world 

fits from finger-tip

to finger-tip.

Bethany Colas is a poet, military spouse, and mother of three who currently resides in the suburbs of Connecticut. When Bethany's not writing poems in the margins of her days, she can be found reading mystery novels from the Golden Age era and drinking tea. Her poems have been published in Ekstasis Magazine and The Rabbit Room Poetry Substack. She also belongs to the fellowship of writers at Cultivating Oaks Press.