Friday, February 26, 2016

Open Circle Poem: In a Café of Senses, Santa Fe--By Michael G. Smith--United States

Open Circle Poem: In a Café of Senses, Santa Fe

A woman smelling of my deceased
godmother’s street-level apartment
walks past me, her scent the one
I needed this moment stretched
between snippets of people talking
about issues I want to hear of and those
I don’t and which scone or croissant
I might want waiting in the glass cases.
Sinatra crooning from the speakers
above me, a taste of old world
marinara (Aunt Phile called it gravy)
mingling with effusions from mothballs
buried in her coat closet hovers
tantalizingly close, the line of coffee
lovers, each swiping smartphones,
snaking out the propped-open door
pushing my beliefs towards touching
how safe distance has become.

Michael G. Smith's poems have been published in many literary journals. This poem is from the series Open Circle Poems. No Small Things was published by Tres Chicas Books in 2014. The Dippers Do Their Part, a collaboration with visual artist Laura Young of haibun and katagami from their Shotpouch Cabin residency, was published by Miriam’s Well in 2015.

6 comments:

  1. Lovely work, Michael! I thought of you today...today was the day the first daffodil bloomed here, and I now have a permanent association between that yearly event and your poetry! Hope you're keeping well. warmest regards, Laura

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    1. Thank you, Laura. Yeah, I know, I need to get back to our poems...Oh, thanks for the Facebopok tags!

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  2. Nicely done! You evoked similar memories through smell for me, too. I am putting together a list of poets for a postcard poetry exchange for the month of April. Would love to have you, and any of your poetically minded friends, consider and join. See my blog for the information: http://www.lenorarainleegood.com/#!April-is-National-Poetry-Month/c1q8z/56c64ae40cf2de8a478fd71e

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    1. Thanks, Lenora. And thank-you for the invite to the April exchange. I'll be traveling a good chunk of the month and so, unfortunately, can't participate. I do hope everyone has a good time.

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