Bio
Anna Teresa Slater is a teacher from Iloilo, Philippines. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. Her work is published or forthcoming in Channel Lit Mag, Ghost City Review, The Literary Nest, Song of Eretz Poetry Review, Muddy River Poetry Review, Shot Glass Journal, and more, as well as in anthologies by Kasingkasing Press and Hedgehog Poetry Press. The eBook version of her first poetry collection, 'A Singular, Spectacular Chore' (Kasingkasing Press) was released in November 2020, with the print version forthcoming in 2021. Anna lives on a farm with her husband, dog, and cat. Website: annateresapoetry.com
Anna Teresa Slater
Human Suffering
I want to be angry
at the subtlety of the snail upon
a mossy rock. Its shell
bronzing the top of rounded
gray moist, dew
and rain-glossed, sun
leaking in slices through tilting
stalks.
I want so much to find
my reflection in the necessity
of its measured
curve, in the solace touch
between wave and grain. It doesn't
look up, even as my shadow
stains the steady kiss.
I know enough to walk away.