"Waiting for the Man" by Matthew Fertel
Ceridwen Hall | Distance
I’m unraveling—at the speed limit—a span of green
emptiness between us. Only this morning we smuggled
the dog onto the lake, swam beyond the safety buoys,
amid naked faces. The water was cold, then it was blue
and joyous. You can adapt to anything, you told me,
but words are no masks for bodies. The minnows fled
my feet; we tracked sand and a feather into the car—
where now I’m crying, hard and quiet. I’m tired of calculus,
of trading siblings for parents. Another quarantine awaits.
It was worth it, though, to tread water together, to help you
tape measure your future. To navigate, I convert distance
into minutes. Then I picture your dog perched between us,
hesitant and brave, on the raft’s prow.
Ceridwen Hall is a poet from Ohio and the author of two chapbooks: Automotive (Finishing Line Press), fields drawn from subtle arrows (Co-winner of the 2022 Midwest Chapbook Award). Her full-length collection, Acoustic Shadows, is forthcoming from Broadstone Books. Her work has appeared in Tar River Poetry, The Cincinnati Review, Craft, Poet Lore, and other journals. You can find her at www.ceridwenhall.com.
Matthew Fertel is a Sacramento-based photographer who has worked in the Photography department at Sierra College since 2004. Before that, he was a fine art auction house catalog photographer in San Francisco for over 10 years.
Matthew's current work focuses on capturing the minutiae he encounters in his daily life. He seeks to expose the hidden beauty in the everyday objects that make up the landscape of our existence. Going to the same locations over days, months and years allows him to capture images under different lighting and weather conditions, and to see objects change over long or short periods of time. There is art hidden everywhere if you learn to see it.
Learn more at his website and on Instagram.
Matthew's current work focuses on capturing the minutiae he encounters in his daily life. He seeks to expose the hidden beauty in the everyday objects that make up the landscape of our existence. Going to the same locations over days, months and years allows him to capture images under different lighting and weather conditions, and to see objects change over long or short periods of time. There is art hidden everywhere if you learn to see it.
Learn more at his website and on Instagram.
