Ripple Out / Searching Lost by Diane Webster

Ripple Out

If I peer over the side 

of the boat, what do I want to see? 

A mirror reflection, 

a blurry, wave-induced self 

that could be me or an ancestor, 

a darkened form swimming 

under the boat like a whale 

ready to surface beneath 

bucking me airwards 

in pseudo-flight only 

to splash down like a pelican 

scooping fish below 

and bobbing, floating on surface 

to swallow and sate. 

 

I look from the lake, 

reach out a hand 

and touch myself 

as a ripple echoes 

out toward shore. 

 

 

Searching Lost

Lost like wandering into the forest 

like hearing a kitten meow in the distance 

wanting to save the helpless creature 

calling for help among strange sights 

looking and listening farther away 

in the name of saving ... the hero effect … 

hugs, pats on the back, smiles galore, 

handshakes and tears of happiness. 

 

Except no one’s searching. 

No one notices I’m gone. 

I purposely disappear 

and search and rescue 

never receives a call. 

Lost like never having 

been there at all. 

 

Diane Webster's work has appeared in Verdad, North Dakota Quarterly, New English Review and other literary magazines. She had a micro-chap published by Origami Poetry Press in 2022 and 2023 and was nominated for Best of the Net in 2022.