The Strength It Takes to Stay Afloat

By Tommy Sheffield

The Strength It Takes to Stay Afloat is a collection of poems dealing with love, loss, anger, self-image, dreams, catharsis, and much more. With a range of characters and historical contexts, this collection is a panoramic set of perspectives and landscapes, of eyes and mirrors. From the eruption of Krakatoa to the Battle of Trafalgar, The Strength It Takes to Stay Afloat weaves together a vicious and beautiful tapestry of joy and pain.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Jan 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781483491523

Book preview

SHEFFIELD

Copyright © 2018 Tommy Sheffield.

Cover Art: Jason Davis, Nursery

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9153-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9152-3 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 12/27/2018

Books by Tommy Sheffield

Find Learn Become (2016)

The Strength It Takes to Stay Afloat (2018)

for my parents, Stephen and Maureen Sheffield,

and my niece, Clara Grace

The Strength It Takes to Stay Afloat

Do As Told

Rusty metallic shapes encased in green earth.

Silver spears bent to lighting streets.

A huge sharp shelf of blue cloud colliding

with the ghost of a gray sky.

Junkyard castles.

Dying flower graveyards.

Stomachs full of trash and gunk.

This is America kid, this is how it works:

keep going till you’re dying, then go some more.

Welcome to a world of metal and stone.

Now march on down the crushed-rock road.

Dark Room

I don’t sleep well.

I haven’t in months.

Tell people you have

insomnia and they tell

you they’re sorry. Stop

keeping me up, phone.

Stop making me think.

Look Away

The sun shines an angry spark of blindness into my eyes and I choose to look away. Then at night I find again that same patch of blind whiteness showing me where I cannot see. Some things catch up with you. Some things carry on you like barnacles, like cactus needles, and they puncture deeper when you get reminded.

You Have to Leave

I used to walk on a path through the woods

that led down to a gas station. I would

trudge through mud and root, the moon shooting light

over trunk and leaf. There was a tent there

once, along the path. Homeless people lived

inside. At night I’d pass by, hear laughter,

see lights. Who were they, I wondered, how did

they get to this point. They would drink all night.

They would beg at the gas station. They’d make

enough for beer and food. I think they were

all older guys, with lives that had lost shape.

A couple nights later the tent was gone.

I guess the cops had made them leave. I wish

I could have learned their names, at least.

Hatcher, His Life, His Burden, 1

Hatcher, hungry, would stand

on medians and knock on car

windows and get single dollars

or change. Hungry, Hatcher would

walk into the supermarket and buy

cans of beans and fish. Hatcher,

lying