Featured Poet: Pat Kelly

Late but certainly not forgotten, our next featured poet in honor of National Poetry Month. Because really it should always be Poetry Month.

escapement

when we meet again

we will meet again

in time

perfectly at odds or

evens; the

convex lens of a

venn diagram.

when we will

we will

always be keeping

our time as before

or after now;

before or

after now;

before or after

now.

in beds,

under the blankets of

inkblot witching hours

& august dawns,

across

afterthought memories

you were

my soul’s

warm counterweight.

then,

now,

now balance rescinds you

from the empty sweep

of my arm

& our bodies

go

palindrome.

vacant

swing sets

tighten their periods

to

the blink of an eye

to

the uncompleted wish

to

this prolapsed romance:

my love

or just love

now wish

now distraction:

we are two declining arcs

never again

to fully umbrella

without both

legs kicking.

yesterday

on

the

back stairs, i cut myself

smashing

the

hourglass

containing our last breath.

it was an impulse action,

a turn of motion laughably

irrelevant

as i sucked my bleeding

thumb,

watching the sun

recede,

still marking

the time of day

deftly

with its eyes closed.

always.

we will always be caught

in amaranthine oscillations;

all footfalls

counted by its escapement.

i love you now

now then

now forever

now never released.

& the pendulum

sweeps;

& the

pendulum

sweeps;

& the

pendulum

sweeps.

Pat Kelly is a poet who evokes a sense of nostalgia through work deeply connected to the past and the passage of time. He is also a collector of time pieces. His poems pay careful attention to both stylistic format and visual impression. You can find Pat grappling with the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and bringing other writers on his journey with his Word of the Day challenge on Instagram. Follow him to catch his next reading and upcoming poetry collection.

@patkellypoetry