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Untitled

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.