Three poems by Anne Elizabeth O'Regan
"(un)Safe," "Under the Influence," and "from away"
from away
for example: she moved to Maine for example: she lost herself so deeply in the earth, so deeply in the stars for example: she swam in her clear lake from one end to the other, from dawn until dusk. she swam her days away for example: she almost forgot to go home
Under the Influence
On the day of their wedding I whispered into her ear, “you are poetry. poetry in motion.” Not a garish wedding. Like she, like him: kind, simple, wise beyond their years. I have so much to learn.
(un)Safe
Half a lifetime ago you stood beside my snappy red car, peering in churning the coins in your pocket, wanting to say something, wanting to speak, "Be careful, Annie." I waved good-bye and drove off to run and play and sing on the beach. Two days later, your death call arrived. If you had lived, I would've married the safe man, would've stayed in the safe job, would’ve lived a safe life, just to please you. But you left in a hurry, without a hint, without warning, leaving me with an almost forgotten unfillable gap. What would I tell you today? Would I tell you I’ve wandered this earth near and far, both seeking and forgiving, though I have no true idea what forgiveness is? Would I tell you I’ve climbed countless mountains, walked hundreds of miles alone in the desert, played long and hard in the wilderness of my heart, danced naked beneath infinite sky? Would I tell you that I live my days taking instruction from impenetrable silence, from the whisper and fury of wind, from the clarity of water, from the hot fire of my heart? Would I tell you I am an untamed soul living a grateful, messy, joyous, unsafe life? Of course I would! I just did.
About the author: Anne Elizabeth O’Regan is the author of Tamed. A City Girl Walks from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail. Her work has been published in The Rumpus, One Art, Cape Cod NPR Poetry Sunday, Within Without, and Backpacking Light. In 2022, she was a writing resident at Storyknife in Homer, Alaska. A native of Boston, she defected to Maine a few years ago, where she lives among the loons and the stars with her black cat Arjuna.