Justin Shin
the poem that knows
itself
saw how its second line was already tainted
third line lost beyond the threshold of recovery
by the direction of a sleek black keyboard
augmenting to the poem’s list of imperfections
word by word,
digressing further and further
away from the ideal poem
god knew where this poem was going
and that’s bad, too predictable
he’d already lost interest in the first stanza
its hidden eyes
pass a disdainful glance at
his fingers
those clumsy, insensitive lumps of flesh
attempting to capture some essence in
the buzz of a nearby fly
or an inexplicable change of light
why not then
simply leave these ideas alone
to silence and perfection
where, at least
we will not mistake them as one
he understood
and decided that plenty other ripe prompts
wouldn’t be as discouraging
Justin Shin is a sophomore studying at the International School of Manila in the Philippines. He enjoys using literature as a tool to explore the many eccentric and beautiful facets of the world. He writes news articles frequently for the school publication Bamboo Telegraph. He also loves music.
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