“A Story about the Sky” by Michael Simms

Photo Credit: Dragon Kite by House of Marbles

One morning in summer
as I lay in the grass
spinning through space
I remembered
the sky saved my life once

My father gave me a stick
wound with string.
Don't let go he said
and the kite rose and rose
and carried me away
and my father was chasing
saying let go let go
but I held on
and the kite carried me to the river
where I fell into the sky

So the sky lives in me
but the dark?
I don't know where the dark lives.
It comes and goes.

I know I've lost the thread
but I don't care
my father is dead
just give me a minute to forget myself
and forgive him

First dark, then dark.
Repeat. Repeat. Repeat

Rain passes.
Clouds travel the sky.
The sun looks down
at the river of light.
Today I'm alive
while tomorrow
is merely a theory
so whatever it is
try to get it right

After all, the window
forgives the rain,
doesn't it?

Artist Statement

 I like poems that leap and twirl and then land solidly on the ground. Each perception should be followed immediately with the next perception linked intuitively in a series of images and statements. A Story About the Sky was written shortly after my father's death, and I wasn't ready to process the experience except as dream-feelings. 

Michael Simms is a poet, novelist and publisher. He is the Founding Editor Emeritus of Autumn House Press and the Founding Editor of Vox Populi Sphere. He is the author of five full-length collections of poetry, six speculative novels, as well as a textbook about poetry. He lives with his wife, the philosopher and psychologist Eva-Maria Simms, in the historic Pittsburgh neighborhood of Mt Washington. In 2011, Simms was awarded a Certificate of Recognition from the Pennsylvania Legislature for his service to the arts. For more information , please visit his website: https://www.michaelsimms.info/home