Brevity

The sherbet sky slowly seeps 
a melange of colour into the surf. 

Dusk lulls the sea into stillness.
Currents guide the fishermen back to port. 

Pelicans coast alongside breaking waves 
as the sun sinks into the ocean, 

like a gold coin into soft clay. 
Which artist paints the sky for the world to see, 

choosing a transient canvas, where colors trickle, disappear 
into the dark depths of the ocean like a lost jewel.

Maybe beauty is fleeting, 
like a firework. 

Maybe if the sky held those colors 
for a few more seconds, 

we’d find time to dissect the rainbow, 
turn our backs and run 

in search of something less stable.

Ben von Jagow

Ben von Jagow is a writer and poet from Ottawa, Canada who currently lives in Denmark. His work has appeared in literary journals such as The Mindful Word, The Stockholm Review of Literature, and The Literary Review of Canada, among others. For more of Ben’s work, visit benvj.com.

Hailey Renee

Hailey Renee Brown is a professional illustrator born and raised in mid Michigan. A former field biologist, she moved across country from Michigan to New Jersey, also moving from science to commercial art. A professionally trained artist, she attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in Dover, NJ. She was selected the recipient of the 2017 Norman Maurer Memorial Award as well as the 2019 Joe Kubert Jumpstart Project.