by J.D. Smith
“Give me the strength to lay this burden down.”
— Annie Lennox
Give me the strength to lay this burden down.
I’ve held it close. It’s kept me warm.
Buoy me on waters where I once would drown
Once I have learned my lightest form.
Give me a hunger that won’t crave renown
That I may thrive, although I fast.
Fit me, at length, to wear a final gown
Of long threads spun to shine and last
Resisting any claim of sword or crown.
J.D. Smith’s seventh collection of poetry, The Place That Is Coming to Us, will be published by Broadstone Books in 2025. Awarded Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Smith has also published the fiction collection Transit, the essay collection Dowsing and Science and the children’s picture book The Best Mariachi in the World. He is currently working on projects in several genres. Smith lives in Washington, DC with his wife Paula Van Lare and their rescue animals, and not infrequently a profound sense of trepidation. Further information and occasional updates are available at www.jdsmithwriter.com.
header image: Adriaen van de Venne, A Man Carrying a Sack, 1620 – 1626 (public domain)
One Comment
Abbey von Gohren
This is so full of longing. In the best possible way. Thank you for this.