"this is not a poem (exactly)"

Tess Ezzy

this is not a poem (exactly)

but a leaf-fall of words unclaimed—

(dear dirt) how softly you

listen

and when wind folds the gumtrees into

parentheses (yes)

what survives is

breath—

a syntax of birds unsinging

        •       

meanwhile:

Calla walks thru rain’s lowercase

and writes a cloud into her pocket

(a sentence of dew)

Orion maps stars in the dark of the page,

his footnotes wet with ash

        •       

don’t say hope,

say root

don’t say beauty,

say scar

climate speaks in fracture—

in murmur,

in shiver,

in wait

        •       

the fire is (still) coming

but

so is

poem

(and what’s the difference,

really?) 

More from Tess Ezzy ↓

• @themoodyproject_ on Instagram
• Poetess Press on Substack

You can listen to me read Cross Roads by Tess @rembrandts.cure on Instagram.

Mentioned in this episode:

Write After: National Poetry Month with One Poem Only

Write After is a way to encourage poets to listen and write, and use National Poetry Month to highlight how listening to poetry makes us better poets. I know I write the best when I’m surrounded by beautiful poetry–it’s part of the reason I created this podcast, and I want to encourage others to share this practice. We'll get started in April. You can share to #WriteAfterOPO.

#WriteAfterOPO