Poetry Vol. III: Ilya Kaminsky

ILYA KAMINSKY 

I met a poet today

A kind of poet that uses words

In the most spectacular way 

While he is hard of hearing

He still manages to speak

Yet only of gratitude and kindness 

Through him,

I know that words

Hold great meaning

If only their owners spent them well 

In a lifetime so short

There are only so many words to be said

So many ways to use them 

And therefore not use them 

Some people regurgitate words

Like a river with a busted dam

With no end to its vapid rush 

Some struggle to let them out

Afraid that they will be contradicted

With other pernicious words 

Some stand on opposing sides

Lingering on eachother’s last word

Seeking an opportunity of the blind 

Some hold onto every last syllable

As if another would be too much to ask. 

Others use words to empower the bodies that use them 

Or speak for those who don’t have any at all. 

A poem written by Brooke Thorn McGowan in London in 2014 and published in 2014. Photograph taken in 2020 on Vancouver Island, BC.