We All Know Nothing Lasts |
by Mary Kay Metz

We all know nothing lasts.
The shoreline’s pulled under, out to sea.
Even this sentence will change by the time the period
comes around. I’d like to give you one thing to keep,
a sea shell or a t-shirt or a box of cracker jacks
though I’m not sure what good it’ll do. The old pick up
slipped through my hands, the one with the leaky roof
and mushrooms in the bed. What’s the point of a hope chest
anyway? The last time I visited Ohio creepers covered the trees,
killing off the very thing they need the most.
Some of us have an inkling that none of this is real.
If you sit still long enough you’ll notice a portal
in the back of your throat. Others get all jumpy horse.
Oh Jesus, during the worst of it my heart came unhinged.
Listen, every time you look in a mirror,
no matter what kind of smirk or wink, you have to admit
to a shard of brilliance coming out from between the arms
with a smiley face sneaking up from who knows where.
What was up with us kids anyway thinking that catching fire flies
in jars would save them? Maybe you can actually taste words,
the way under water, a muffled voice says, This is my life unleashed.



 

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The Poet: Mary Kay Metz is studying writing at the Writers Studio in NYC online. She works a day job as a live in maid for some exceedingly wealthy people on the upper east side of Manhattan. She writes to keep from killing people.

The Photographer: Eleanor Leonne Bennett is a 16 year old internationally award winning photographer and artist who has won first places with National Geographic, The World Photography Organisation, Nature's Best Photography, Papworth Trust, Mencap, The Woodland trust and Postal Heritage. Her photography has been published in the Telegraph , The Guardian, BBC News Website and on the cover of books and magazines in the United states and Canada. Her art is globally exhibited , having shown work in London, Paris, Indonesia, Los Angeles,Florida, Washington, Scotland,Wales, Ireland,Canada,Spain,Germany, Japan, Australia and The Environmental Photographer of the year Exhibition (2011) amongst many other locations. She was also the only person from the UK to have her work displayed in the National Geographic and Airbus run See The Bigger Picture global exhibition tour with the United Nations International Year Of Biodiversity 2010.