August 2020
Author's Note: "Serendipity" and "The Door" were both written during a sojourn in Scotland
last summer. My mother had just passed away across the Atlantic and I hadn't had a moment to absorb
the shock. When I got to Scotland I found I had time to wander around the horse farms and villages
and think about what her death meant. These two poems belong to that period of inquiry and introspection.
"Duality" was written in response to a challenge from fellow VVer Betsy Mars, which began as a private
conversation and ended up as an anthology. A prime example of serendipity.
Serendipity
The older I get
the more I live
for the unharried rush
of serendipity
a few bars of a favorite song
overheard in a coffee shop
while walking past.
No biggie. That’s it.
Nothing to write home about
just a blast
of serotonin
to steady the nerves
a pinch of warm sun
on the cold cheek of life.
The Door
The key always stuck in the lock
when I tried to open the door
until one day, the whole thing
burst magically off its hinges
and I drifted into
a world of light.
Duality
Knives cut both bread and throats
tongues and fruit, a length of rope
to fashion both knot and noose.
A blade can scissor hope,
whittle back bone, crack
skull, scrape out the pulp
from teeth then sign its name
in flesh soft as an apricot.
It is a weapon, and is not.
©2020 Marc Alan Di Martino
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the
author (email address above) to tell her or him. You might say what it is about the poem that moves you. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse Virtual.
It is very important. -JL