In the sparing verbiage of his poem “Zinc”, poet Paul Ilechko purifies the chaos and complications into a singular simplicity. In leaving everything behind in departure, it is no mystery why the narrator of the poem demands the reader only take items made of zinc (as well as fishing gear), as zinc is the essential trace element for all plant and animal life. You are to take only what you are made of, what makes you living, what makes you life.
Zinc
It’s time for you to leave
take nothing with you
that is not made of zinc
or used for fishing
leave behind the scattered
seeds of all your possible
future lives —–you have
been refined as a single stream
that pours into the ocean.
Paul Ilechko
Paul Ilechko is the author of Post Moby (Sheila-Na-Gig, 2026) and Fragmentation and Volta (Gnashing Teeth, 2025). His work has appeared in many journals, including The Bennington Review, Bear Review, Atlanta Review, Permafrost, and Laurel Review. He reads for Marrow Magazine.
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