There’s charred anguish
I pack along
old burns inside of me
diversions
Diversions are forms of failure
like bent nails
I made a poem of your pain
rust-bitter
shreds of breath
eyes hunkered down
bone-tired
The day that you left
I wanted to break the sky
with my vengeance
wanted to pull you back
open your lungs
blow fire into them
I wanted to disassemble
your death
strip off the ghost-skin
add light to your eyes
but moving out of range
your speeding star
shattered
at the pitch of my grief
making me the bent nail
Dah’s fourth poetry book is ‘The Translator’ from ‘Transcendent Zero Press’. His first three books are from ‘Stillpoint Books’. Dah’s poetry has been published by editors from the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Canada, China, the Philippines, Spain, Australia, and India. His poems recently appeared in The Recusant, The Cape Rock, Acumen Journal, The Sandy River Review, The Linnet’s Wings, Indian River Review, and The Galway Review. Dah lives in Berkeley, California where he is working on the manuscripts for his fifth and sixth poetry books. ‘Harbinger Asylum Magazine’ has nominated Dah’s poem “Some god” for the Pushcart Prize.