Mantis 21 (Summer 2023)
New Poetry
Eileen Sepulveda
New York City Windows
Damp windowsills
Icicles melting
Raindrops
It’s the blizzard from New Year’s Eve
Snow mountains are ashtrays and
Next door neighbors
Are lovers quarreling and
Mothers screaming and
Children crying
Cars parked
No one is moving
No Sunday church processions
Get the warm gloves out
The hooded sweaters
“There’s gonna be mo’ money, next year” Daddy always says
Like leaves falling
By the wooden bedpost
Eggs splattered on New York City Windows
Halley’s comet never made it to the South Bronx
Aurora skies as my eyes start to close
Dreams of
Solar systems colliding
Like fireflies in the summertime
The thick linen curtains are still up
And the smell of wet paint lingers
“Say goodnight, you must go to bed now,” Mommy says
Daddy’s coming home soon
His wet sneakers will be
Drying on the sill
EILEEN SEPULVEDA’s love for writing began when she was just a teenager. Later, as a single mother of two boys, and working full time, she chose to go back to school and enrolled in Lehman College. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree as an English Honors student specializing in Creative Writing. She is the first in her family to receive such an honor. She was an editor and a contributor to the school newspaper, Meridian, writing articles that focused on the struggles and concerns of Lehman students and the larger Bronx community, including unfair policing, prison labor, and gentrification. Eileen writes poetry and short stories and will continue to work on a novel in progress.