Zen-like in its purposeful simplicity, poet Bradley Samore has made us something humble and wholesome with his poem, “After a Day of Others’ Demands”. This poem is a quiet accessible pause in the chaos of the day-to-day, a hushed interlude of domesticity and nourishment. Bradley told The Dewdrop, “‘After a Day of Others’ Demands, is a coming back of sorts—to domestic rhythms and doing one thing at a time, savoring the unglamorous.”
After a Day of Others’ Demands I go in the kitchen and light a candle wash the kale the collard greens shake them dry these verdant wings and pull their flesh from the spine of their stems lay them in a bowl a nest made of leaves for sautéed onions ginger and mushrooms garlic cloven from the gleam of a bulb soy sauce black pepper Italian seasoning salt a dash of all spice mingled for flight on the fork to my mouth each sensation a visitation a guest at the table in the hands of attention
Bradley Samore
Bradley Samore has taught English and writing in Spain and the U.S.A. and also has worked as a school service worker. The Palm Beach Poetry Festival named him a Thomas Lux Scholar in 2022. Bradley’s poetry was shortlisted for Aesthetica Magazine‘s Creative Writing Award and River Heron Review‘s Poetry Prize. He likes to go for walks, meditate, learn how to reduce his carbon and plastic footprint, garden, play basketball, and listen to jazz.