Feb 2020
WHAT IF MY POEM TOUCHES
ONLY ONE OTHER?
What if my poem touches only
one other? What if my heartache
no other feels? Will my words
and passion grow ashen? What
if my tears fall on dry ground?
What if no one else is around?
Will I be alone with my misery,
no one with whom to commi-
serate? Dark clouds are my
crown; I wear it like a clown.
A smile would beguile others,
but not my inner-self. I know
my truth. It is what sustains
me. It is who I am, and only
I can regain my kingdom of
calm. So I’ll cry away my tears
and push aside my fears.
My heart still beats, and only
for me. I’ll use my spirit to
lift up myself, and as I rise,
I’ll take along my poem,
my sorrow now, but will trans-
mute into compassion and
joy in tomorrows that today
I cannot yet see.
Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks
ONLY ONE OTHER?
What if my poem touches only
one other? What if my heartache
no other feels? Will my words
and passion grow ashen? What
if my tears fall on dry ground?
What if no one else is around?
Will I be alone with my misery,
no one with whom to commi-
serate? Dark clouds are my
crown; I wear it like a clown.
A smile would beguile others,
but not my inner-self. I know
my truth. It is what sustains
me. It is who I am, and only
I can regain my kingdom of
calm. So I’ll cry away my tears
and push aside my fears.
My heart still beats, and only
for me. I’ll use my spirit to
lift up myself, and as I rise,
I’ll take along my poem,
my sorrow now, but will trans-
mute into compassion and
joy in tomorrows that today
I cannot yet see.
Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks
A graduate of Andover and Columbia College, Columbia University, Tod Howard Hawks has been a poet and human-rights advocate his entire adult life, He recently finished his novel, A CHILD FOR AMARANTH.
