Michael T. Young Verse-Virtual 2016 December

December 2016

I studied and practiced martial arts almost fanatically when I was a teenager but injured my back when I was fifteen. I started writing poetry and by the time my back healed, I decided to be a poet rather than the next Bruce Lee. Since then I’ve published four collections of poetry and received recognitions such as a fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. You can keep up with my work at www.michaeltyoung.com.

Everything

I live in what I give away:
in photos, flowers, polished stones,
a book or ring, a porcelain trinket,
a figurine of which I say,
This one’s my favorite, but it means
much more to me for you to have it.

But also in the time I give,
to listen, try to understand
everything time takes: the flower,
the photo of a relative,
the polish on the stone, a friend,
a pledge and ring that slips the finger.

And finally even how I live,
till I’m afraid to give away
what, for tomorrow, I should keep:
some memory of those who leave,
some token that recalls the way
to stop this dying in my sleep.

First published in The Lyric

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