Poetry by Jeana Mahan
Waiting by the water
a girl stands
round belly and barefoot
She’s afraid that it’s cold
or a shark
will bite at her ankles
The fear will follow her
while she lives
or until she’s sixteen
Why doesn’t she just jump
push her now
before the mud takes her
It’s life or death for her
her toe dips
she lets out a brief yelp
The water did not win
she lives on
though the sharks circle her
Jeana Mahan lives in Los Angeles, California. Her fiction has previously been published by Maudlin House.
