The Topography of Hope, by Jennifer Shneiderman

Mary by the Sea, Overlooking Palos Verdes, by Lee Blair (USA) 1934

The Topography of Hope

Tresses fly in sharp salty wind
Mary breathes in the vast ocean shimmer
beneath remote regal Palos Verdes cliffs

the low hoarse call of the pelican 
announces the artists’ arrival
an easel standing at ready attention 

brushes, paints, tools of the trade and stars align
from her canvas springs 
a moment 

in a brushstroke
a day, a year
an era

an every-changing world captured
the swaying ocean
the eroding shores

shifting, quaking 
yet an enduring, reaching peninsula
our Mary by the Sea

Jennifer Shneiderman

Jennifer Shneiderman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker living in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in many publications, including: Yale University’s The Perch, UCLA’s Windward, The Rubbertop Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, Flash Fiction Magazine and Minnow Literary Magazine. She received an Honorable Mention in the Laura Riding Jackson 2020 Poetry Competition.