Vox Populi
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Dawn Potter: The Way We Live Now
a man solitary as a grieving
arrow types
a text to his daughter and
the text feathers into the ether
a frail man punches out a text
to his daughter the text is a prow
it plunges through time
through rushing space
like a grieving arrow a man
hands sprung with arthritis
punches out a text to his daughter
words clatter around
her bedroom they shimmer green
and blue they light up the dark room like
a grieving arrow they ignite
the small hours a man howls a text
to his daughter eyes closed
eyes open she hears her phone
sob like a grieving arrow sob
the father wails a text his
unbearable frail words pulsing
greenblue in a dark
room the solitary terror
anger frail as a man an arrow
throbbing into the target that
waits for the wound
Copyright 2024 Dawn Potter
Dawn Potter’s many books include Accidental Hymn (Deerbrook, 2022). She lives in Portland, Maine, with her husband, the photographer Thomas Birtwistle.
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So moving, so powerful
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Yes, Dawn Potter is one of my favorite poets.
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Oh, the way this poem travels!😭
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Oh, how that hits home. Even thinking of a time when it wasn’t texting.
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This poem hurts so deeply; it sings sorrow and acknowledges boundaries that are both destructive and sometimes necessary– wow, Dawn. Just wow.
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Yes
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This is spectacular. Breathtaking. So evocative. I have witnessed this but didn’t know it until now. Thank you.
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The Way we live now, the way we grieve now
playing taps with our send key
releasing the arrow
targeting not a distant inbox
but the love we miss
a digital sparrow
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