By: Mark Almand
Ars Poetica
A poem is a
Loaded thing:
A razor here
A stitch there
An explosion from a time past, a love abandoned, the swat of a drunken mother
Write it only if you
Have nowhere to go
No doctor
No advocate
No answered prayer
And the dry clicking seconds
Leave you desperate for a drop of water
On a swollen, cracked tongue.
A poem will open you
A poem will close you
Nowhere as mighty as verse
Is both blessing and curse
A poem is a
Loaded
Thing.
Note from the Marilyn L. Davis, Editor-in-chief: Mark has also done a tribute poem about one of our monthly contributors, Anwer Ghani. I love that there’s this kind of kinship among the writers and how Anwer’s expressive narrative poetry influenced Mark with the poem, Anwer.
Anwer Ghani
Anwer is the bird that rests in your hand, tiny, blinking, breathing in starts. He flew to you from the desert. Fierce storms buffeted him, yet he flew on his beating wings. Now from his perch in your hand he manages a quiet aria. It seeks out your memories – memories of crust, memories that coat your throat, memories that crack in barren heat.
Anwer asks no questions. Anwer brings healing pulled from deep wells.
Bio: Mark Almand
Mark has been writing poetry since college. He really got going in 2017 as a way to help him deal with his mother’s descent into dementia. He is currently completing a book of poems tentatively called Here and After.
Favorite topics are the metaphysical, grief, love and faith. He has written one book, Claude’s Canvas, a memoir, published in 2010.
Mark is married with three adult children and lives in the foothills of northeast Georgia.
His first published poem was in University of Connecticut’s student newspaper, The Connecticut Daily Campus.
Two Drops of Ink Poetry Break by Mark Almand
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Hi Anwer, thank you again for your refreshing.
It’s funny — As soon as this poem posted, I wanted to make changes. It is difficult to capture a person, with all their facets.
Mark
How happy I am with this gentle interest and profound reading by Mark Almand. Here I can only give deep thanks. It is nice for literature and poetry to be a bridge between people, people and spirits, to bypass the veil and the walls created by delusions. Many thanks to my friend Mark Almand, and many thanks to Two Drops of Ink, and to Marilyn Davis.
As I said, I’m always pleased when I see the specific influences of one writer on another. I thought Mark did a wonderful job of, not just a narrative poem, but describing you, Anwer!
Yes sure, I am happy for his words.