Declarations of Hunger | Reed Smith
after A. E. Backus
He paints a bird and a snake.
It is midday
in a field. One glistens cruelly. One tries not
to give itself away.
The fractal swath of deliverance
glitters in the ocean’s current.
Wind hammers inside the echo chamber’s hood.
Wings, like dusty Sanskrit, blur.
They tangle in a whisper.
A heron becomes a wren. A rock becomes a weed.
The grass shakes its sequined blades.
Declarations of hunger have been made.
About the Author:
Reed Smith’s debut book of poetry, Declarations of Hunger, is forthcoming from Brooklyn Arts Press. Originally from Texas, he went to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and currently cares for Covid patients in nursing homes near Miami, Florida.