The path forksI retreatInto the vacuumOf my whirring mindDetermined to polish my decisionTo a high sheen of certaintyTo imagine a futureSo controlledI can see my own faceReflected in its surface But the faster I spinThe more lost I becomeIn a black holeOf my own creationMy core feels empty, expanding(Was that once a bellybutton?)To a fathomless …
Author Archives: A.C. Smith
Tin
For Zachary Ten yearsNamed for tinBecause after that all timeIt is strong and durable, so they say But I find myself thinking of tinkersWith hammers and shearsPerhaps marriage isThat too There is beauty in the dented, mended watering canThat can still hold water, that can still nourish life Note: I wrote this poem on 20 …
Odds and ends 12
Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman On Uncertainty and Inspiration by Michelle Woo (from Medium) Amanda Gorman: “Rarely does a writer say “I’m gonna have a great idea” and it comes. Instead you have to wait lovingly, preparing a place for inspiration to strike in your life. It’s like tending soil, though you might not have seeds …
The bird’s nest
For Holocaust Memorial Day PreservedAs a necessaryMonumentTo brutality A wind blowsThroughThe draughty Barracks ShelvesFor piled bodiesOn the cusp ofSilence EmptyExcept memoriesJust walls nowFloor People lived hereDiedSurvivedHuman souls DeathShadowsWatchingWitnesses And yetIn the raftersLifeEndures A bird’s nestEmptyPreservedLife Photo by Serafima Lazarenko on Unsplash Note: Many years ago, I visited Auschwitz with Zach while he was living in …
Beware
Beware the ones who sayI’ve read thatTo every book you mentionWho always have a counterexample Or a riposte, who are never caughtWithout a ready answerAnd exist in a state of impermeable poise Beware the ones who file awayKnowledge like munitionsTrapped in an intellectual arms raceWho consume to increase their powerRather than to appreciate their ignoranceAnd cannot …
Fairytales
If deathIs an unhappy endingThen all our storiesHave unhappy endings That is not howI want to see my lifeViewed through fogged glassOf grief and loss Happily ever afterDoes not requireImmortality or denialWe choose it every day Photo by Cederic Vandenberghe on Unsplash
Where’s mama?
(This poem / might be triggering / for some people) Where’s mama?She’s workingWhere’s mama?She’s in the bathroomWhere’s mama?She’s cooking dinnerShe’s writingShe’s busyWhere’s mama?Tonight she’s meeting a friend Where’s mama?She’s off on a visit to the doctorWhere’s mama?She’s cleaningIt makes her feel calmerWhere’s mama?She just needs a moment aloneSometimes we feel betterAfter a good cryWhere’s mama?She’ll …
Tell your friends ‘I love you’
Do you remember the first time you said ‘I love you’ to someone, and you were scared they wouldn’t say it back? Or maybe this hasn’t happened to you. Some people never want to be the person to say it first. Personally, I’ve always felt like we need as much love as possible in this …
Odds and ends 11
It Takes Me More Than 3 Hours To Write One Story by Shannon Ashley (from Medium) “The reality is that there probably are certain types of stories that you could write more quickly than others. That doesn’t mean those are the stories that will put you on the map, however. It also doesn’t mean that those are …
Hot
The heat starts deep under my skin, pushing towards the surface with the force and inevitability of an oncoming wave. I can feel when it starts, but by then it is too late. I can tell myself that I am not actually hot, just flooded with sensation, but it makes no difference. I am warm, …