I Know You’re There – a poem by Mary L. Serantoni

I Know You’re There

Palms, oleander, 
bougainvillea
sway and rustle.
High intensity winds
are finally commanded 
to embrace the calm --
leaving trees, 
branches, blossoms
strewn across 
streets, roofs, lawns.
Walking through abstract 
performance piece of found objects
curated by a higher power,
gives pause. 

Monsoon made its way here …

	Mesmerized by sky, 
	I stand at the shore 
	admiring 							
	billowing puffs 
	of opalescence
	gently pushing 
	against
	thick dark cloak 
	swollen with storm.
	There’s an opening 
	in the clouds, 
	shimmering 
	with streaming light. 
	I squint hard --
		to see 
		if you 
		are there.

Mary L. Serantoni is a poet based in Arizona, originally from Chicago, Illinois. Her work appeared in Poets for Science, Farraday Newsome: Memento Vitae, My Body Is Your Nest, and Museum of Northern Arizona’s ‘Poetry Maps’ exhibitions (2024, 2025). She holds a BA from Chicago’s DePaul University, and is a member of BMI and a Poetry Workshop through a local nonprofit.