Anne Calajoe

Sea Maiden's Journey

Torn skirts flagged like sails
as she bowed
with bootheels fastened to the deck
and hand on knee.

Fine hairs glinted over her brow
on the edge of morning, her eyes
cupped from the gilded sun—
the spray on her face
did not blind her.

The old ship foamed
In the siren waves
singing to open-lipped sailors,
weather-beaten and salty—
drifting far from home.

The restless waves
fell back
like echoes they tossed
and turned into the sea.

She was brazen prey
straying over water—
hovering like fog
spoken on a cold day.


American Dream

House hunting on a Sunday afternoon
drove us out on Mission Land Road
to a 1940s farmhouse on Pine Island,
a slanted red roof flags
and chickens run from a neighbor's yard,
tin milk cans flank the door.

Nestled in rows
bulbs swell in their beds,
wearing coppery jackets—
bluish leaves fan in waves,
across the muckland—
once a glacial lake
or that's what the locals say.

The stench of onions rises—
white flowers bolt
new seeds to keep from dying,
fertility entrenched in
this humid desolation.
Even among the onion fields,
as we leave
our muddy wellies at the door.


Private Stock

In the garden, we kneel,
filling baskets
with tomatoes, beans, and peas—
Earth rises
between our fingers,
mud on the tractor wheel
turns round.

Two women throwing pots in heat
kneading bread
on floured boards,
sharing loaves—
in close corners
of the kitchen.

Peaches ripen on the counter
and fall into our lap—
we gather with aprons on,
listening to the simmering rhythm
of jingling mason jars.

Clouds of dust
flower around us,
tasting the sweetness
preserved on the wooden spoon
of the mother tongue
before the frost comes.


About the Author

Anne Calajoe lives on the outskirts of New York City, nestled in the Hudson Valley. She is a psychotherapist by day and a shadow poet by night, creating mosaics that reflect the fractured aspects of our psyche. Spring Fever is her first book, which is currently under review. It was written during the pandemic and captures the beauty of language and introspection. She graduated from New York University with an M.A. in Mental Health Counseling and holds a B.A. from SUNY Purchase in Creative Writing and Psychology.


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