Poetry by Luther Jett

Mark Spearman CC



THE BROKEN


Let us talk of broken things --
toys and china bowls. Clocks.
Bones, records, promises.
Our country. And speak of how
not all broken things want fixing,
how to be broken can become
its own strength. Do you see
how when language breaks down
it rearranges itself? That
is what I want to talk about
with you into the long, long night
and past the grey dawn’s breaking.
Our arms have held so many
broken things, until at last --
each other.

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WHAT I WANTED


I wanted to tell you
what I could never tell you:
How trees hold nests
of birds in their arms
and sea-wind tousles
dune-grass the same way
a mother might caress
her daughter’s curls.

I could never tell you
what I wanted to tell you:
That the moon is an ear-ring
worn by night, and when music
comes across the air-waves
it cuts in and out
and that static is its own
song and we dance to it even
while we are standing still.
Even while we are sleeping.
Especially then.

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Luther Jett is the author of six poetry chapbooks: “Not Quite: Poems Written in Search of My Father”, (Finishing Line Press, 2015), “Our Situation”, (Prolific Press, 2018), “Everyone Disappears” (Finishing Line Press, 2020), “Little Wars” (Kelsay Books, 2021), and “Watchman, What of the Night?” (CW Books, 2022). A full-length collection, “Flying to America” was released in the spring of 2024 by Broadstone Press., Jett's most recent chapbook, “The Colour War” was released by Kelsay Books in December 2024.



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