Amy Wei Tan has written news articles for Reuters and worked as a news producer for CNBC Asia TV and has been a meditator for nearly twenty years. She has worked across Asia, lived in the United States and the United Arab Emirates, and now resides in Singapore as a public health practitioner. She earned a bachelor’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University with a business major and a minor in women’s studies. She enjoys making sourdough bread, all types of French patisserie, and gourmet chocolates, all from scratch.

Iguazu Falls Down
By Amy Wei Tan

My eyes have
only touched
Iguazu Falls
on screen.

Sheets of water
racing, tumbling
over rock, I have not
felt on my skin.

I would not
have looked at
this Fall, if not
for your wishful want

To go between
Argentina and Brazil
from city to jungle
to sight enormous pools.

I search and plan
plot and pry
a 36-hour flight
a car from end to end

To comfort your
bad back. To behold
a vision of the Falls
to feel the mist on face

To shiver from the breeze
pushed by powerful water
to have ears muffled
by timeless roar

But Iguazu Falls down
at the dining table, where you
look up from the newspapers,
say, No, maybe not.