Second Coming No. 39 — Feb. 27, 2025
A poem-a-day protest against the threat posed to our democracy by the current occupant of the White House
Zahra Axinn
Listen
I hold my focus
as though I were
to thread a needle
so that I might
parse a pattern
or rhythmic melody
from disparate rustles
my gut tells me
to be still so that
I might come to know
more than myself:
beyond the cumulus
way past the satellites
where the skin of the seas
meets expansive air
under the mantle
deep in the magma
within wafts of eucalyptus
or campfire smoke
or steam from wet asphalt
slow as the seasons
an imperceptibly
ever-changing twilight
vast and sprawled as a city
bright and contained as a chime
decadent but not heavy
smooth enough to dissolve
Zahra Axinn is a British-American writer raised in Berkeley, CA. She holds a BA in English and Theater & Performance Studies from Stanford University and a dual-degree MA in Visual and Critical Studies and MFA in Creative Writing at CCA. She currently lives in London.
Indolent Books and editor Michael Broder are back with another poem-a-day series as a creative response to the threat posed to our democracy by the current occupant of the White House. The plan is to continue for all 1460 days of the 47th American presidency.
Find out how to submit poems or flash prose pieces to Second Coming.
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Wow girl this is awesome!!
Thank you! I’m so excited to share this poem 📝