What Shines Does Not Always Need To by Adam Clay

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend October 28, 2016   What Shines Does Not Always Need To   Adam Clay

Because today we did not leave this world, We now embody a prominence within it, Even amidst its indifference to our actions, Whether they be noiseless or not. After all, nonsense is its own type of silence, Lasting as long as the snow on your Tongue. You wonder why each evening Must be filled with a turning away, eyes to the lines Of the hardwood floor as if to regret the lack Of movement in a single day, our callous hope For another wish put to bed with the others in a slow Single-file line. I used to be amazed at the weight An ant could carry. I used to be surprised by Survival. But now I know the mind can carry Itself to the infinite power. Like the way snow Covers trauma to the land below it, we only Believe the narrative of what the eye can see.            Copyright © 2016 Adam Clay. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   "I wrote this poem thinking about the recent death of a young poet and how loss can mean both the absence of a person but also the absence of the work that could have been created, had the poet's life not been cut so short. This idea of creation, of course, extends beyond art and into other facets of life—the line our lives will follow isn't always straight or straightforward. Within the reality of living another day lives the possibility of creation, despite the sense of loss we might feel right beneath the surface." —Adam Clay   Adam Clay is the author of Stranger (Milkweed Editions, 2016). He teaches at the University of Illinois Springfield. Poetry by Clay   Stranger (Milkweed Editions, 2016) "Touching the Floor" by Max Ritvo "Darkening, Then Brightening" by Kim Addonizio "René Descartes and the Clockwork Girl" by Kathryn Nuernberger Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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