Simon Perchik’s most recent poem to appear here was “Struggling against more turbulence” (September 2017)
Wild from the cold each splash
is already driftwood
and though you lean into the sink
each single cup anchors on its own
needs to stay in the center
the way every statue is filled
with stones, smells from flowers
and your chest held close, naked
for stars to scatter what’s left
and the afternoon—petal by petal
you pour from a night
longing to cover your body
as a single shell, around and around
with nothing inside but the ending
always in the same place.
Dear Simon,
So like your work, concrete and rich, thank you.
Char