Martin Willitts, Jr.: "When everything that ticked —has stopped"

—Emily Dickinson, # 510

It is not anything that stopped; but me.
It was not Death’s hearse of autumn leaves
slowing down to find my Last Testament.

If I made the smallest dent, I hope it was with Love.
Nothing in this reflective silence is long enough.
Nothing stops ticking in order to speak of me.

I came into the world with nothing except in Love;
and I leave behind nothing of value except Love.
Love—Love never stops. It keeps on going.

"When everything that ticked—has stopped" by Martin Willitts, Jr., from The Heart Knows Simply What It Means: Poems Based on Emily Dickinson, Her Life and Poetry. © Aldrich Press, 2012.

Art credit: "Ocean Waves and Beach," still from a video by AnaMarques.

Sidney Hall, Jr.: "Something about the Wind"

There's something about the wind coming off
the ocean, the waves washing the rocks

that makes a person who is quickly annoyed
by cigarette smoke and men
putting nails into roofs

forgetful and unconcerned.

If you are easily disturbed
you need to get an ocean.

"Something about the Wind" by Sidney Hall, Jr., from Fumbling in the Light. © Hobblebush Books, 2008.

Photography credit: "Wave Crashing Against Rocks," by Aaron Feinberg (originally color).