Winner (November 2025) "Quake and Shimmer"

Published on 10 December 2025 at 13:31

"Quake and Shimmer" by Ink

Full as our hands are

of wood and strings,

hides pulled taut over

hollow half-barrels,

reeds punctured

to channel breathing into birdsong,

we reach up,

beckon you

down to us

to subsume us,

consume us,

do with us

what amuses you.


We offer up the most of what we've made

of imagination 

self-taught, peer-reviewed,

open mic-previewed 

as fertile field,

proof of possibility,

but will never turn down

divine lessons.


Lay your fingers atop ours

and teach us prayer,

temper our mortal tantrums

with the patient, volatile revolutions

of the universe,

make our songs

worthy of echo,

our dance

worthy of quake,

and we will make the Earth

tremble

and the stars

shimmer.

Image Description: Bright swirls of starlight hang over darkened trees and rocky terrain.

Credit: John Fernald / Pexels


About the Poet

 Balancing a taste for all things caffeinated with a thorough knowledge of how to waste time, Ink (he/him) stains pages of online and print periodicals periodically and often performs at open mics of ill repute throughout the NY/NJ/PA area. He founded Stanza Cannon, an online literary quarterly dedicated to audio poetry.

Social media handles: BluskyMastodonLinktree

Where to find more of your writing: Affairs of Ink

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