Gentle Collisions by Tara Betts

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend December 29, 2015   Gentle Collisions   Tara Betts

extract longing.                                                      fold its edges in gold paper                                                      to rest on a scale.   the catapult of one                                                      plate plummets the other swings                                                      bobs and waits for a leaf of one’s                                                      want to waft down.   such gentle collisions                                                      crush more than steel crack more than bones           upon slight contact.            Copyright © 2015 by Tara Betts. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “People fail to realize how much devastation comes from loss and how even delicate measures underscore how a feather or the small see-saw of a scale can dole out the last intolerable blow. When I thought of that image, reminiscent of the Egyptian concept of ma’at, I knew that floating feather, and the gilded wrapping paper of grief would unfold into a back and forth of lines that began to resemble the up and down of a scale reconciling its received weight.” —Tara Betts   Tara Betts is the author of Break the Habit (Trio House Press, 2016) and 7 x 7: kwansabas (Backbone Press, 2015). She teaches at the University of Illinois-Chicago and lives in Chicago.   Photo credit: Tony Smith Poetry by Betts   Arc & Hue (Willow Books/Aquarius Press, 2009) "Did You See the Sky" by Rachel Jamison Webster "Grief Work" by Natalie Diaz "That This" by Susan Howe Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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