Today's poem is untitled by Sett Vincent. It is read by Samaa Abdurraqib.
untitled
I have no problem with the sand, the seagulls -
they overwhelm me, and make me afraid to eat my lunch.
I like the tan the sun gives me -
actually, I miss it.
I love the bits of crab you can find sometimes -
the gentle reminder that a body of bone and armor won't protect you from the constant pecking of empty stomached birds.
I first left the concrete slabs unwillingly, trading them like my grandmother's ring for moss and lakes -
i was scared. my feet, until this point, were made for work boots and highways.
I felt blind -
like i couldnt see the mountain tops past the billboards, the bees past the buzzing, the soil past the dirt.
I came to Maine, scared of the unknown, wondering what I could accomplish in a state with more pine than people -
i discovered poetry in the bark, oil pastel in the water, healing in the people.
I found a home -
one I didnt know was lost.