Lindos, Greece

Sandra Simonds

Maybe silence adds to the pain
and maybe pain adds to the sea
and maybe the sea is only a reflection
of a ruin today
where the mind is unable to make out
how things used to be for us:
complete, with deities, a kind of
order. Oh never mind the ATMs
scattered throughout the medieval town
or the street art sprayed
into the air that says
Destroy what destroys you
But I destroy myself;
I destroy myself.

About This Poem

“This poem is a response to the political street art and graffiti that I saw in Greece this past summer. The political street art slogan ‘Destroy what destroys you’ was unexpectedly Delphic in power insofar as it seemed to have the power to speak directly to the chaotic forces of emotions. This poem speaks to how we have internalized some of the oppressive structures of our times.”
—Sandra Simonds

Sandra Simonds’s most recent book is Orlando (Wave Books, 2018). Her next collection, Atopia, is forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press in the fall of 2019. She is an associate professor of English and humanities at Thomas University in Thomasville, Georgia, and lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

Poetry by Simonds

Orlando

(Wave Books, 2018)

"What the Streets Look Like" by Anselm Berrigan

"Daily Conscription" by Kyle Dargan

"The Photograph Suggests a Hidden Life" by Susan Rich

December Guest Editor: Carmen Giménez Smith

Thanks to Carmen Giménez Smith, author of Cruel Futures (City Lights Publishers, 2018), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read more about Giménez Smith and our guest editors for the year.

Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

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December 24, 2018