Michael Simms

The World As Sound
August 23, 2023 Simms Michael

The World As Sound

 

I didn’t speak until I was five
Because everything was sound
My mother’s high heel was a slide
Her foot sang into. The rectangle
Of the coffee table was a clinking
Glass and a book that played
The violin. I couldn’t speak
Because I was the scream turned
Inside out, a tree branch moving
Through the blue song of yesterday
The first time I heard a tango
I knew it was a purple rising
Through the folds of want

 

Michael Simms is the founding editor of Autumn House Press (1998-2016) and Vox Populi (2014-present). He is the co-author of The Longman Handbook and Dictionary of Poetry (Addison Wesley, 1985). His recent books include the poetry collections American Ash, Nightjar and Strange Meadowlark (Ragged Sky, 2020, 2021, 2023) and the novels Bicycles of the Gods: A Divine Comedy and The Green Mage: Volume One of the Talon Trilogy (Madville, 2022, 2023). In 2011, the State Legislature of Pennsylvania awarded Simms a Certificate of Recognition for service to the arts.