TWO POEMS by Greg Santos

Shell/Cave

The hermit crab lives alone in its own small shell.
I, too, live in my own small shell.
Its walls are dark and cozy like a cave.

I scuttle about from tide pool to tide pool and I am happy.
But lately my shell/cave paintings trouble me.
Images of dark seagulls and undulating creatures live on my walls.

I fear my shell/cave has grown too heavy.
I fear I no longer know where
the shell/cave ends and where I begin.

I am shell/
I am dark cave.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dark,

I hope our childhood fear of you is replaced by a quiet awe like a fetus awakening in the dim of the womb for the very first time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greg Santos was born and raised in Montreal. His writing has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Mcsweeney’s, The Best American Poetry Blog, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Word Riot, and Rogue Stimulus (Mansfield Press, 2010). He is the author of the e-book Thinking Things Through (Pangur Ban Party, 2009) and the chapbook Oblivion Avenue (Trainwreck Press, 2008). He currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut with his wife. The Emperor’s Sofa, his first full-length poetry collection is forthcoming in Fall 2010. He is the poetry editor of pax americana and he blogs at Moondoggy’s Pad.