Wednesdays on One Poem Only are Handpicked, a new feature where I go deeper into the poem of the day and discuss what made it stand out to me.

They Built the Wall Themselves

M. A. Dubbs

On any given weekday on the east boardwalk of Port Washington,

you’ll find fishermen of leisure.

Long white beards, shirtless with an all over tan,

crepey skin a canvas of tattoos;

a visual storyboard of his trials.

If you’d ask, you’d learn about the steady hands

that inked him as a kid drafted to ‘Nam.

He won’t say much about the thick bordered ones

he did when he got back.

Just shake his beard and tell you “mistakes.”

Ashes from his cigarette will fall

on familiar burn marks as his lips tremble.

The lake clears the mind,

dampening the sound of everything.

Even the water crashes silently on the storm breaker,

so it’s always still.

A haze, not a fog, rests north of here.

Resting on the horizon like an acoustic panel.

It’s the silence that he seeks

but he’ll bring six fishing rods anyways.

Strap them up in a row along the railing,

all cast close, lines just four feet apart.

If you’d ask, he’d say he’s trying to better his odds.

Ask if he’s caught anything so far and he’d shrug,

tell you nothing good yet

but he wants a big fish so he brought the big rods.

But mostly, he’s quiet.

He rests on a bench or sits on his hams and squints outwards.

Solemn face, as couples hold hands and stroll by,

as a mom pushes her child in a stroller,

as a group of teen boys pause.

They long to learn and touch fishing line,

have an old hand guide their fingers through pretty little lures,

each feathered and glittered with care.

They long for tough stories that were untold until they lent an ear.

There’s a pause for connection

but it passes too quick.

The boys don’t know much yet but they’ll carry this anger home

and it will stay in their chest for years to come.

The old man watches through sleepy eyes,

human lighthouse:

eyelids half open to the boys,

half closed to the water.

More from M. A. Dubbs ↓

• @madubbspoetry on Instagram
• Her book, A Walk to Americana, published with Dancing Girl Press is available now

Handpicked Wednesday

A new feature where I go deeper into the poem of the day and discuss what made it stand out to me. Watch here on Instagram at @rembrandts.cure.

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Two poems. One poet. Let the words keep moving.