Trill, the anxious silhouette
Fills the seabound swallow
Shout for feeling, it will set
Doubt my meaning, make it shallow
Let no mawkish word appear
Get a rock to decide
Which way to emote or fear
Stitch opinion to on let bide
Ocean-directed descent
Opens, closes objective
To abyss, these thoughts are sent
Flew away; in nothingness, live
Brine swallows thoughts—I don’t care
Blinded criticism
Living water—I don’t mind
Giving thoughts to no charity.
Matthew Vernon Downey lives and writes in Victoria, British Columbia.
This poem “On Let Bide” originally appeared in Canadian Literature 257 (2024): 163.
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