Software program for my twenty-year-old self

by Cyndie Zikmund


Start: Consider how you want your life to un- / fold

Who will you love | the father figure? the rebel?

Imagine you chose the father figure

Love out of season withers un- / fed

Search for / long for / lost calendar pages \\ return to start

Imagine the rebel

Late nights / under- \ currents / drift- \ wood

Wait for- / ever / for elusive smooth water  \\ return to start

Go to: / youhaveto / learnto / loveyour- / self / beforeyou / canlove /anyone / else


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Cyndie Zikmund’s essays have appeared in Pink Panther Magazine, Magnolia Review, The Literary Traveler, and an upcoming issue of Under the Gum Tree. Her book reviews have been published by River Teeth, and Southern Review of Books. She is an editor for Magnolia Review, and served as Creative Nonfiction Editor for Qu Literary Magazine. She has an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte, MBA from Santa Clara University, and BS EECS from UC Berkeley.