From the Editor: Celebrating National Poetry Month, the Delmarva Review joins with Spy and poets from across the land to present an outstanding poem each week. This is the fourth poem from the review, with the poet’s comment for Spy’s discerning readers.
Author’s Note: While I was teaching writing, I would encourage my students to love language and to explore words for their numerous nuances and applications, particularly in idiom. In “What We Keep,” I look at a relatively uninteresting verb and follow it in its many uses in regular conversation, and the result is not just a litany, but also a kind of narrative that compelled me to see the word differently.
What We Keep
The beat,
the faith,
the home fires burning.
The people down,
the good work up,
the undesirables out,
the grass off,
the straight and narrow path to,
all of it under wraps.
The books,
the peace,
the house,
the goal,
certain fish,
bad company,
our heads
when all about us
are losing theirs.
The change, we say,
generous over nothing.
Promises, sometimes, and
secrets even when they no longer matter.
Our opinions to ourselves.
Time, if we understand music,
quiet, if we don’t.
Our children safe,
our hands off the money,
our friends close etc.,
a little something on the side.
An eye out for strangers,
a copy for our files,
our shirt on and
our big mouth shut.
Fit, if we can,
our fingers crossed.
Our cards to our chest,
a straight face
when it all goes sideways.
Our cool,
our lips sealed,
an open mind
and our nose
to the grindstone.
The ball rolling,
the wolf from the door.
our powder dry.
Terence Young is an author, former editor and teacher from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He co-founded and edited The Claremont Review, a literary magazine for young writers, and he was a teacher of English and creative writing at St. Michaels University School, in Victoria. His most recent book is a collection of short fiction, The End of the Ice Age (Biblioasis, 2010).
Delmarva Review publishes the best of poetry, creative nonfiction, and short fiction selected from thousands of submissions annually from authors in the region, across the United States, and beyond. The independent literary journal is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by individual contributions and a grant from the Talbot County Arts Council with funds from the Maryland State Arts Council. Print and digital editions are available at Amazon and other major online bookstores. Website: DelmarvaReview.org.
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