“The Wave” by Elizabeth Sackett

In blue shadows, the wave

chased them around the

corners, chalky and sharp,

slipping liquid into hills,

a caress for the blades

with the dew, the dots.

They breathed in crests,

in crashes. Knees and

dirt in stops and

starts. Shh, she said. It

roared against the last

house, the iron

beasts still and silent.

Sacrificial.

He pulled her forward,

held her, white-fingered.

Wait. The sea below,

and behind, the ocean

joining itself monstrously,

marvelously.

They halted.

The earth stung itself

with lemon juice. That quick

moment where the heart

drums, drums, drums.


Elizabeth Sackett's work has appeared in such publications as Neon Literary Magazine, A Door is a Jar, Wild Musette, The Literary Nest, and Mythridate. She spends her free time thinking up unhinged metaphors, and her professional time wrangling artists at a local gallery.