06 Oct Two Poems by Benjamin Brindise
how to save the rest
if i did not rot
i think i would have kept
the pieces fallen off me
maybe tucked them
in a cedar chest
in a less used closet
if i did not rot
i would visit them sometimes
lift each out to turn
and examine
invoke and remember
on less used days
if i did not rot
i would not need shears
or a barrel fire
i am allowed to weaken
and break apart
to save the rest
make it
make it make sense
make it break
make it shore up
make it put your mother’s head back together
make it heal cuts you didn’t notice broke skin
make it free your tongue
make it past
make it collapse in on itself until new meaning blooms at the center
make it green
make it root
make it from fingertip to jelly to mouth
make it sing
make it bend until bowed but not broken
make it kiss
make it bring your father back to life
make it breathe
make it take accountability
make it dance
make it understand
make it melt like marshmallow over the flame
make it burn to ash and reform
make it question
make it ceaseless
make it end
make it turn
make it what it is
make it what it will be
make it what you want
About the Poet
Benjamin Brindise is an author, writer, and teaching artist. He is the author of the short fiction collections Secret Anniversaries, The Procession, and Rotten Kid, all published by Ghost City Press. With Justin Karcher, he is the co-author of the full length collection of poetry Those Who Favor Fire, Those Who Pray to Fire (EMP Books, 2018).
Brindise has been a Teaching Artist since 2015. He has worked with the Just Buffalo Writing Center, Eat Off Art, and many others. He has produced workshops for students ranging from middle school through undergraduate programs. He is also the Flash Fiction editor for the online journal Variety Pack.
Brindise has represented Buffalo, NY four times in the National Poetry Slam. In 2017, he toured his hybrid chapbook of fiction and spoken word poetry across the Rust Belt. He last represented Buffalo as part of the Pure Ink Poetry Team at the Southern Fried Poetry Slam in 2023 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He has worked with the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Buffalo Futures, Canisius University, Medaille University’s Write Thing Series, University at Buffalo, Music is Art, the Gloria J. Parks Community Center among many others.
Related Event
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- Ben Brindise will join poet and spoke word artist Yamilla Tate and the band Comienzos in a Fall fund-raiser for the new not-for-profit Arts & Culture journalism website The Buffalo Hive from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 13 at the 9th Ward at Babeville, 341 Delaware Ave. in Buffalo. For more information about the event, visit thebuffalohive.com
The Poem of the Week feature is curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.