Excerpt: I breathe not your oxygen,
but the words that fill the gap between us,
cutting off my breath,
forever leaving me gasping for air.
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
Cast Out of Eden: Undertow
Excerpt: His words filled the table,
leaving little room for your elbows to rest,
let alone a path for you to leave.
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
Cast Out of Eden: Independent
Excerpt: He serves you first
like an unwanted birthday gift.
You smile–
because your mother always told you to do so…
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
Cast Out of Eden: Eye Contact
Excerpt: You won’t give him the validation,
even as he smooths his hands
over the rear of her jeans,
removing her cell phone,
so that she can pay with it.
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
Cast Out of Eden: The Next Day
Excerpt: Color fades,
drained,
like you from me.
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
Cast Out of Eden: Silence is the Wind
Excerpt: Clock ticks each second,
marking each breath you take,
glass cutting your heart,
words throbbing your brain,
with thoughts you dare not repeat…
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
Cast Out of Eden: God
Excerpt: She believes in God after the rains come,
when prayers are heard
after the silence
of slammed doors…
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
Cast Out of Eden: Repair
Excerpt:
You paid no attention to them
once they hit the floor,
useless,
collateral damage in our civil war,
bodies to walk over.
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
Cast Out of Eden: Tsunami
Excerpt:
Aftershocks remain
in glass fragments in the mind
that broke with each thought…
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
Cast Out of Eden: Flat Roads
Excerpt:
Instead of our destination,
we got nowhere.
Now, we are lost
and we have only ourselves to blame.
Cast Out of Eden is available at Politics and Prose at https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624292323
J.L. Smith 