Workshop by Thomas Zimmerman

Sun rays shining through trees in forest during sundown
Photo by Johannes Plenio from Pexels

 

The setting sun bleeds gold between the pines
that darken in the breeze, and I am not
the person that I was when I began this thought.
Here, sitting with me, Sandy–not the same
but someone new. And Sally, Mona, William,
and Diane: Are you still you? Right: no.
And yes. All vying for a space in my
small closet of a brain. Though not born sad,
I do believe that all things end in sadness.
Am I wrong? I suck my gut in, lift
my chins, heave out my chest–but I am melting
like a movie witch, and everything’s
all smashed together, morphing as it mashes.
This rough draft of a life: a poet’s hash.

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Thomas Zimmerman teaches English and directs the Writing Center at Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. His latest book is Dead Man's Quintet (Cyberwit, 2023).  https://thomaszimmerman.wordpress.com/