Purge storage. Cultivate aplomb. Rein in

flamboyance and lecture not to yourself

as other. To think, you might have mended

yourself for months by someone’s impromptu

prompt. Your news is all fantasy and self-lit.

You’re no longer dependent on real things,

contingency and world events, for desired

outcomes. You’ve given up your car

and handwriting. Injustice makes you stalwart,

always on strike. What you know, everyone

knows, so why unfold your arms—

not yet. Not until you hear them turn off

the motors and everyone, for blocks,

sits at table parsing the harvest,

exhaling and igniting the anger until calm,

folding the chairs and tables and strolling home.

Lawrence Bridges is best known for work in the film and literary world. His poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, and The Tampa Review. He has published three volumes of poetry: Horses on Drums, Flip Days, and Brownwood. As a filmmaker, he created a series of literary documentaries for the NEA’s “Big Read” initiative, which include profiles of Ray Bradbury, Amy Tan, Tobias Wolff,  and Cynthia Ozcik.