Tag: object‑driven poetry
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England 5, France 3. The 7/18/26. Miami
I wrote England 5, France 7/18/26 after watching the match and noticing how gestures—handshakes, hugs, stiff smiles—carry the residue of conflict and detente more precisely than words. The poem studies how surfaces record both trauma and victory without naming emotion.
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Ferry
I wrote Ferry after watching a river crossing where sound and weight seemed to trade places. The poem explores how movement and release—mechanical, not emotional—can become a form of grace.
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A Loss
I wrote A Loss after burning a photograph that refused to fade on its own. The poem examines how ritual and chemical reaction replace sentiment, turning memory into residue and pressure.
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Love Is
I wrote Love Is after my cancer surgery, when my wife sat beside me and held my hand as I woke. The poem is about how love survives the body’s breaking — not through comfort, but through the persistence of touch after pain.
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Peace Wheel
I wrote Peace Wheel after watching monks construct a sand mandala outdoors, where the wind kept undoing their precision. The poem explores the friction between breath and wind—human control against the inevitability of dispersal.
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Vestige
I wrote Vestige out of the memory of my mother’s rituals—how care and vigilance could harden into preservation. The poem began with the image of towels draped over thorns, a gesture that felt both protective and sacrificial. I wanted to explore how domestic acts—counting, tending, washing—become ceremonies of control and grief. The poem’s tone is…