Self-portrait with Sharpening Tool
Am I sculpting this poem to death,
chiselling my life to erosion?
blue chalk streaking lined palms.
A sentence cleaved into one spare image,
last slow breath rolling over the riverbank —
grit in the teeth, the stone worn thin.
Crystalline or pared to fleshless bone?
Simple — or simply less?
I want to embody memory, be more
of all I am left of —
edges worn clean,
limbs tracing air,
fresh breath in tiny sails.
David Hanlon is a poet based in Cardiff, Wales. His work appears in numerous magazines and journals, including Rust & Moth, Anthropocene and trampset. His latest collection, Dawn’s Incision, was published by Icefloe Press. You can follow him on Twitter @davidhanlon13 and Instagram @hanlon6944.
Amethyst Review 