Hiatt O’Connor – Waiting for Gravity

Seemingly a lesson in simplicity and silence, Hiatt O’Connor’s wonderful poem Waiting for Gravity is, in fact, a work of layers. His poem is rife with complexities, not so dissimilar from the globule of honey that’s the main feature of this writing. Hiatt explained to The Dewdrop that Waiting for Gravity is actually a poem about overcoming dread, and reading it with that in mind brings forth the tension, confusion, curiosity, and exploration in a much starker way.

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Waiting for Gravity

This morning spooning honey into the mug
I spoon too much, so hold the spoon
vertical over the jar and pause –

the glob oozes
slowly from the faux-silver,
a viscous amber rope,
and gathers again below
as a little golden knoll.
Just as it comes together
the soft sideless honey-shape dissipates
back into the darker, deeper pool,
which contains all honey-shapes,
so none.

I hold the honey glass up
to a slant of light
coming through the kitchen window
and see the infinite particulates suspended in it
glint – specks and flecks so small, so bright
when lit all at once –

then bring the spoon to my mouth
and feel them on my tongue:
under the sweetness,
almost tasteless,
fine as dust.