Michael Simms: God, Poetry and Trauma
In the 19th century, if you asked a scientist whether he believed in God, he would have answered, ‘Of course, I don’t believe in God, I’m a scientist.” But if you ask a scientist today whether he believes in God, he would answer, “Of course, I believe in God, I’m a scientist.”
Michael Simms: Portrait of Unknown Couple
He sketched in charcoal
the arch of a shoulder
the movement of a hand
the woman’s head
turned and tilted slightly
toward the man
Michael Simms: The Horses
People loved her as they might love
A flag or a map or a story
Of a country of green pastures
And low stone walls
Michael Simms: My debut novel is being launched tonight
This evening the rap artist and filmmaker Christian Nowlin will be helping me launch my debut novel BICYCLES OF THE GODS: A DIVINE COMEDY.
Vox Populi: OMG! An Interview with Michael Simms about his Debut Novel ‘Bicycles of the Gods’
Who wouldn’t love a story about badass vigilante nuns and the end of the world?
Michael Simms: You Taught Me
you pointed
At the bubbles rising in the pitcher
Of beer to explain consciousness
Which was blurred by that time
Of evening
Michael Simms: What Holds Us Together Keeps Us Apart
The dirty child at our border
who walked 500 miles
sharing a pair of shoes
with her brother
Michael Simms: Elderberry Magic
In the Native American tradition, the elder is sacred. The soft whistling song I often hear in the branches has been heard by others as well. Elder’s long association with wind instruments suggests that the magical sound comes not from the wind but rather from the tree itself, as well as any instruments carved from elder branches.
Michael Simms: Puppy Rolling
When I take Josie to the dog park she likes to find a puppy, preferably a rare breed like a Shiba Inu or a New Guinea Singing Dog and roll it down the hill.
Michael Simms: Mary Jo and Aline
Mornings they loved best
sitting over long breakfast
light slanting over them
Michael Simms: Uvalde
The swelling and collapsing
Of a small promise more
Tentative than we knew
Michael Simms: Trigger Warning | Old White Guy Talks About Racism
White people don’t spend a lot of time talking about racism. Right-wingers dismiss racism as a talking point that black people use to get special treatment while left-leaning white people simply state that racism is an evil tendency among other white people, but not themselves.
The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant (Egyptian Middle Kingdom 2000 BCE)
A poor peasant, Khun-Anup, is traveling to market with his donkeys heavily laden with goods to exchange for supplies for his family when Nemtynakht, a vassal of the high steward Rensi, notices the peasant approaching his lands and devises a scheme to steal Khun-Anup’s donkeys and supplies.
Cristina Peri Rossi: Three Poems (with translations)
The Arabian poets say
that fate is the lurch
of a blind stray camel.
