Simplicity, and Other Things We Overcomplicate

By Samantha Terrell

Simplicity, and Other Things We Overcomplicate, the second full collection by internationally published American poet Samantha Terrell, is a poetic discourse on finding simplicity amongst the ever-increasing complexities of our world. Readers will find sixty-five poems which push the boundaries of controversy and offer peaceful resolve - fitting with Terrell's emphasis on self-awareness as a means to social awareness. Her work appeals to both new and long-time readers of the craft.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Samantha Terrell
• Release date: Mar 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781393423447

Book preview

WHAT GRAFFITI TEACHES

He tags a boxcar in the New York train

Yard, before moving on to the next stain,

He will make, or will be made of him

Since life in the ghetto is sink or swim.

––––––––

While, he stands alone in a field of hay

Dreaming of a life far away,

Far from here, where his girlfriend broke his heart.

And now a train passes by, decorated with bright-colored art.

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And, she wonders what it all means

As she stares out her window, and tears stream

Down her cheeks, hating old age, and the imprisoning

Circumstances it brings.

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And though we are all bound to our dwellings,

Maybe – in the watching

Of graffiti-art trains, from our respective homes –

We will know, we are not alone.

~~~

GIFTS

To live, is to push a broom,

––––––––

Stirring dried pine needles reluctantly

From their recently acquired home –

No longer bound to branch, they’ve landed

Where, for months, they’d planned.

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To live is to become angered

By world news of

Leaders in retreat,

And demagogues and deceit.

––––––––

To live is to

Mail a birthday card

Too late,

Or learn an old friend passed away.

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Sweep clean,

Read news,

Love friends,

Receive.

~~~

POSTCARDS FROM THE FUTURE

Message #1:

When the world got sick,

Fevers broke and nations sighed;

City-dwellers sang

From balconies

To ease the pain

Of human suffering,

Mask the fearful feelings

Along with potentially-ill faces –

Faces of uncertainty about the future,

About ourselves, our neighbors.

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Message #2:

When the world was sick,

It feared the worst

Had finally come true –

That I am a monster behind my mask,

And so are you.

––––––––

Message #3:

Now the world’s

Got well again,

As it does,

No one sings from balconies anymore,

Just because.

No one celebrates

The nurses and

Calls the doctors heroes,

Or thanks the sanitation workers.

But no one’s forgotten what they did, either.

––––––––

Message #4:

Dear World,

I hope you receive this last one.