Sample Poems by Alissa Sammarco

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Sitting on the Veranda
 
Martin asked Jane
“Do you want another?”
They drank gin martinis.
She complained about the wind
messing with her hair
but he didn’t care.
He just wanted to get blasted.

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Traveling Together
 
Pack your bag and I will come
find you, with your brown striped case
waiting for the rain to stop.
You brought a brush for your hair
razor for your chin, a cap
for your head, and two tickets.
My bag is packed with sparkles. 

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Angel Fish
 
We swam in the Caribbean
where tourists bobbed up and down,
sun burned and kicking calm waters.
 
You and I drifted
out past the buoys
where the fishing boats are tied.
 
We stretched out fingers and toes,
soft and salty,
as we floated
 
until angels surrounded us,
their white skin and black tipped fins
flashing underwater,
 
nibbling at the tops of our toes,
transforming us into
blue-green mermaid and titan.

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Cruising Past Cuba
 
Hemingway would not approve.
His boat was not a ship
and his sail was on a fish.
But if he were here,
he would drink with us
and watch Cuba slide by.
As the winds blow
across the bow, the weather hits,
tossing us like pennies in a jar.
He would drink with us
and shout at us in a hard voice,
then come back to drink again,
saying, “Having a rough time, old boy?
It is as it should be.”

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Belize City
 
With its afternoon rains,
the people walk through it,
no rush home.
It is time for gathering in the street,
in doorways against the mud.
And sandwiches for schoolgirls
who come home from the nuns,
mercy in their white dresses
and colorful sashes.
They will return at two
for their lessons.
But there is no hurry here
where the rain comes and goes,
it comes and goes.