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Michael Brosnan
The Blur
Months into this human experiment
in shared loneliness, you turn from mirror
to window, stare at a world that can’t be fixed
with thought — and sense something’s gone,
gone for good. You murmur. You pace in circles.
You wonder if you’ll be able to name it, the core
of living that slipped our grip in a quick out-breath.
Beyond these walls, the wind does what the wind
has done, birds sing as they have song.
Along the roadside, an old man with a stick
shares his pent-up words with a tall pine,
the twilight managing only to dress up the plot.
The day fades. You eat alone, climb the stairs.
Only the waning moon sees you brush your teeth.
About the writer:
Michael Brosnan is the author of two collections of poetry: The Sovereignty of the Accidental (Harbor Mountain Press, 2018) and ADRIFT (Grayson Books, 2023). His poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Rattle, Confrontation, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, Poetry South, and Barrow Street. He is also the author of Against the Current, a book on urban education, and serves as senior editor for the website Teaching While White.
Image: Gerixeti (Shadow) by AI MidJourney. Digital image from Basque mythology generated by artificial intelligence. 2022. Public domain.
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