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  • When I Consider
  • D. S. Martin (bio)

When I consider how my light is spenthow once I read    minute textwith no assistance    I grumble at scanningthe room for where my glasses wentyet think of the apostle    never given an optionby an optician    his stark sightmaking him write in such large letters& of Milton    whose light grew increasingly dark

When I consider how my heart is benttoward fulfillments of my ownI understand how Beethoven saw unspenttalent    as a death he'd battle    graspedfor each note's vibration    mournedthe isolation of every missed wordthe loss of a shepherd-pipe's flutterthe subtleties of his symphonies    unheard

When I consider how my dad's mind wentno longer balancing numerical skyscraperson the tip of a pencil    recalculatingcalculations    checking sums    ruffling papersthe admission comes    that no soulhas ever been in control    our losses insistwe untwist this illusion    & let gogradually relieved    of such need [End Page 155]

D. S. Martin

D.S. Martin is Canadian poet and series editor for the Poiema Poetry Series from Cascade Books. He is currently serving as poet in residence at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. Recent publications include Ampersand, Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C. S. Lewis, Poiema, and the chapbook So the Moon Would Not Be Swallowed. www.dsmartin.ca.

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