Healthy Smiths by Jason Bredle

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend July 28, 2014   Healthy Smiths   Jason Bredle

Every few months my friend and I get together to talk about “what we’re doing” vis-à-vis “the perceived goal of our dual attempt to become masters of wordsmithing in the face of insurmountable opposition.” This is what I’m doing, we say, compared to this person we don’t know who does something similar and is wildly more successful than us. Powdered lips and lip powder are quite the opposite to anyone who’s ever powdered their lips or shaved flakes off of their lips in that great and violent kitchen of our beings. Is it true, we wonder. Are our life-fates locked aside from random pratfall, victim of crime or illness? In twenty years you’ll look back at this moment and go, “whoa, weird,” but you’ll feel the same way you feel now as you stare into the crisp, dark city and say to yourself, “whoa, weird.” I’m just trying to get through this like the rest of us, you used to think, with dextrose, maltodextrin, malic acid, calcium stearate, carnauba wax, blue 2, red 40, yellow 5, less than 2% corn syrup and possibly egg on my tongue. Who knows what could happen to my lips. They could be powdered, shaved, or ripped completely off my face in one, impressive motion.            Copyright © 2014 by Jason Bredle. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “This was the first poem I wrote after the birth of my son, tumbling out of me late one night while returning from a friend’s house in Pilsen at a point when I was unsure if I’d even write again. I had this great sense of excitement and anticipation for all the possible good that could come from his life, but also a sense of dread that his life would be riddled with the tedious, unnecessary and painstaking obstacles that have dominated my own. The only apropos reaction at the time seemed to be, ‘whoa, weird.’ We’re at the mercy of a cruel, arbitrary world, and all we can do is hope it works out.” — Jason Bredle   Jason Bredle is the author of Carnival (University of Akron Press, 2012). He works as a linguist and lives in Oak Park, Illinois. Most Recent Book by Bredle   Carnival (University of Akron Press, 2012) "In Betweenness" by Pierre Joris "Ephemeral Stream" by Elizabeth Willis "At the Very Beginning" by Katie Petersen Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038