sermon to the broken

you won’t die

though your pen may dry

or erupt

crude swamps        drown straight lines

you won’t whirl backward like storms unforeseen

and drench marigolds in spring          after fall’s last rain

you won’t wither

like leaves caught in a drain

 

you won’t dry to chalk

flake and diamond sea

 

you will sliver but you won’t break splat crack split

                split crack splat break

 

you will try ,

and try

but you won’t die

 

Valerie Smith is a graduate of Rutgers-University Newark, where she earned an MA in English, and is in the process of finishing an MFA in Creative Writing. She has conributed articles to www.rethinkcaribeean.com, www.paulbyrondowns.com, and her personal blog www.throughthemirrorofmymind.wordpress.com.

Tagged poetry