Giana Longo

Willows

around the corner and down the street
where the willows used to blow
in the breeze and we would play
hide and seek along the riverbank
where lilies rise from mud
and low tide and geese sit
among them in the warm wet
scent of river water noticed only
in the spring and fall, you would chase
me and pretend I was too fast
slipping through your fingertips
like time slips through glass
and I would run over that sand too
sure even now we would still be
playing, but those willows are gone
cut down years ago and you do not
run anymore since I haven’t asked to be
chased; the geese are still there
and the lilies all grow among
the muck of a riverbed that now
smells like clams and heavy bones

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Giana Longo is a writer and poet from Philadelphia with a BA in English and an MA in Writing Studies from Saint Joseph’s University. Her work has been published in various online and print publications, including Blue Marble Review, One Art, and Last Stanza. Her professional career spans from marketing to editing to journalism, and you can find her publications at her website, gianalongo.com.

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