MARY JANE TENERELLI

COMING UP FOR AIR

The dive down is done.

My face breaks

The greeny surface

Into the sun;

Sweet, sweet

Surprise.

The mile long murk

Under the sea

No longer acts filter

To my blue ether.

Up here I swear

I’m free of the deep.

It is not lapping

At my bleached heels;

Not whispering

The valentine promise

Of no place left

To fall.

Mary Jane Tenerelli is an editor, poet, and mother of two small children based in New York. She has appeared in a number of poetry journals, including The American Muse, The Poetry Superhighway, and ZuZu's petals. She recently published her first chapbook, Til' Death Do Us Part, with Blast Press.

You can read more of Mary Jane's work on Poetz 2001 and 2002.