A Poem By Lynn Melnick
by Mark Bibbins, Editor
Niagara
It wasn’t God
with us that October.
It was something bigger than we can put into solemn books
and pray to
although I saw you praying as you stood over the falls,
your eyes shut for a while. I was praying too
which I do when I’ve lost sight
of anything human.
I’ll admit it here:
I was embarrassed
because the scene didn’t take my breath away like I had wanted it to.
Majestic, yes, and
sure, I could imagine falling
because I always imagine falling
but there was something about the way
the lavender of the sweater you bought me
split open
the mist and the gray
that had me thinking
things don’t have to be sweeping to be beautiful,
they don’t have to kill me
to make me love them.
Lynn Melnick’s first book of poems, If I Should Say I Have Hope, is forthcoming from YesYes Books.
Pssst, buddy, you lookin’ for more poems? Keep this under your hat, but we’ve got a bunch right here, in The Poetry Section’s archives. Quality stuff, too, trust us. You may contact the editor at [email protected].