From “Pests”
Because I knew it would fall victim
to that same mistake again
soon enough
and I would be there to see it die.
Tag / weathered souls
Excerpt: Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls
From “Eclipse”
Fragments of light,
love’s final words—
the space between.
Excerpt: Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls
From “Sleet”
Words ceased to leave mouths,
but fall
instead
with the sleet:
a state in between,
never committing
to one side
or the other
Excerpt: Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls
From “Tsunami”
Aftershocks remained
in glass fragments in the mind
that broke with each thought,
each glance
Excerpt: Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls
From “Earthquake”
Café patrons lock eyes.
Brief sips paused.
Excerpt: Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls
From “Thunderstorm”
A beauty you dare not touch,
like the question that goes
unanswered between us
as the lines on the highway
and roadside weeds blur
with the rains that fall
Excerpt: Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls
From “Sweat”
In a city of visitors
absent its usual power suits
and Starbucks hands,
an ordinary day
lingers on.
Coming soon! Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls.
Medusa, The Lost Daughter – Available now at Politics and Prose
https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624291272
Excerpt: Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls
From “Dirt”
Red earth mountains rise
from the plains outside
of Oklahoma City
made from everyday life’s one-night stand.
Coming soon! Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls.
Medusa, The Lost Daughter – Available now at Politics and Prose
https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624291272
Excerpt: Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls
From “Roots”
that strips the color you hide
when you are naked,
but not the color you prefer
when you are clothed.
Coming soon! Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls.
Medusa, The Lost Daughter – Available now at Politics and Prose
https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624291272
Excerpt: Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls
From “Mud”
Her hand did not rise
to point at the pure cup,
but to the one soiled on the outside,
because she trusted not
what seemed to be clean and perfect,
Coming soon! Weathered Fragments, Weathered Souls.
Medusa, The Lost Daughter – Available now at Politics and Prose
https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781624291272
J.L. Smith 