The Welder’s Song – Len Kuntz

 

This is the sound of breaking

Then melting

A sort of soldering

Smell of burnt steel lining the nostrils now

Sparks from the welder’s flame

Shooting 4^th of July bright

Landing on tennis shoes

And cracked cement

Hitting skin

 

This is the sound of love

Fierce devotion

The kind of rapt attention lovers

Show one another when they can’t say

If they’ll ever see each other again

Noticing moles and blurred scars

Seeing it all again for the first time.

 

I wished he would show me that–

The love a welder has for his torch and metal

I wished he would solder me back into a boy

If only half of one

Watching him work I wished so many things

That by the time my father finished his piece

And held it up to the light with a smile

There was nothing left to wish for

 

Len Kuntz is a writer from Washington State, an editor at the online magazine Literary Orphans, and the author of I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AND NEITHER ARE YOU, a story collection out from Unknown Press.  You can also find him at lenkuntz.blogspot.com.

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June 5, 2017 by foxglovejournal Categories: PoetryTags: creative, creativity, devotion, family, flame, humanity, Len Kuntz, life, love, memory, metal, past, poem, Poetry, scars, senses, skin, steel, torch, US, WA, work, writing 1 Comment

Daily devotion – Katherine Henderson

 

Lay your foundation

Use beauty-blender

Cover all over

Smooth out from centre

Conceal everything

Out of place or uneven

Shed light on dark circles

Put away blemishes for later

Pinch your cheeks

Set with powder

Sculpt brows into archways

Where men will try and find you

Prime and pigment eyelids

A bright, matte white

Is a quick-fix face lift

Draw jet-black spine down lash line

End in wings

Dress lashes in black for lift

 

Always end with the lips

Start where you sulk

Scalpel sharp tip draws blood

Outline in red

Stay in the lines

Blot twice

Draw your finger

Through your lips

Get rid of excess.

 

Katherine is a poet, blogger and essayist based in Edinburgh. Her blog – Pin Ups and Panic Attacks – looks at vintage fashion, lifestyle and self-care. She dabbles in crafting and is working on a series of drawings called #projectladybutts that celebrates all kinds of femme beauty.

February 18, 2017 by foxglovejournal Categories: Poetry, UncategorizedTags: beauty, blood, blot, body, creative, creativity, daily, devotion, eyelids, foundation, hiding, Katherine Henderson, lashes, light, lips, make-up, poem, Poetry, routine, spine, UK, wings, writing Leave a comment