1 mighty ocean
3 million grains of sand
11 towels dotting the shoreline
30 feet from the lifeguard stand
2 lifeguards, gabbing
1 expectant mother, resting
2 prayers said for husband at
1 interview that morning
1 brand new cell phone
15 times checked
0 calls or messages
from 1 husband, delayed
1 engine roaring
8 beeps while backing up
2 tires crunching
2 victims, surviving
1 mighty ocean
3 million grains of sand
11 witnesses, yelling
1 ambulance, wailing
all prayers, answered.
My lifeguard stand.
Lupita Eyde-Tucker is a bilingual poet and translator raised in New Jersey and Guayaquil, Ecuador. She is the winner of the 2021 Unbound Book Festival Emerging Poet Award, the 2019 Betty Gabehart Prize, and in 2018 was selected as an AWP Writer to Writer Mentee by poet Maggie Smith. In 2022 her poetry manuscript, "Eucalyptus," was a finalist for the Andrés Montoya Prize from Letras Latinas. The manuscript explores her Sephardic Jewish ancestry and bi-cultural heritage.
Not Enough Poetry 
dang. what a tale eh….i love how you used the numbers to tell the tale too…imagining her finding out…its heartbreaking to think about..especially in light of that new life inside her…
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That was me!
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oh heck… glad about that good ending…. what a story.. and even more gripping after reading that was real…
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What a devastating tale.. And it’s all down to those numbers isn’t it? Glad to see you it’s been a while
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I love the use of numbers to tell a story ~ I am glad all the prayers are answered in the end ~ Hope you are well ~
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i use photography as a tool for mindful awareness..counting the details of beauty and life is also a great way to do this as well i think…
Oh and i love numbers ‘true’..
as ancient
as
time itself
now..
true.
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Wow, just wow! You really had me reading faster and faster as I went through your poem. I really like the way you wrote it….with the numbers, the short lines, the way they were all related, and then the happy ending!
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Great use of numbers at the beginning of each line as well as the repetition with some twists at the end. You created tension and then allowed relief in a very effective manner.
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I like the way you use the numbers. Very cool poem!
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thank God all prayers were answered!! this is a really innovative one!
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Excellent. Love the way you did this.
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Excellent.
Glad your prayers were answered.
Anna :o]
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wow…that’s a novel approach and how numbers speak !!…”all prayers answered”..nothing could be as soothing and as miraculous as this…beautiful….
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Quite a tale, I am happy you are okay.
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So creative and riveting. Loved the number painting.
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