Sorting by

×
Skip to main content

Have you ever desired
a carwash for the soulrushed
right up to those
retractable doors to drive
right in let the gush & spray
wash away mud-splatters
& grease? You knew didn’t you?
you’d still have to face that bang
clang under your hood


Have you ever desired
a soul mechanic? You knew didn’t you?
you’d bristle at repair suggestions
implying your ride’s no good


Imagine if you can a wrecking
yard a refiner’s fire & a high-end
custom shop all-in-one
where everything we are & everything
we do is made new where the pitch-perfect roar
from your ignition rings in
a cloudless spring evening so cleanly
that freshly-paved highways spread to the horizon
& far beyond for the likes of us
to glisten among the stars

Photo by rob walsh on Unsplash

D.S. Martin

D.S. Martin is the author of five poetry collections, including Angelicus (2021), Ampersand (2018), and Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C.S. Lewis (2013) — all from Cascade Books. He is Poet-in-Residence at McMaster Divinity College, the Series Editor for the Poiema Poetry Series. He and his wife live in Brampton, Ontario; they have two adult sons.

5 Comments

  • Rena says:

    What a treat to look forward to each month, DSMartin’s modern take onJohn Donne’s sonnets in the Metaphysical series. It never disappoints. Wonderful imagery. And true to Donne’s essence

  • Laurie Klein says:

    “The Teacher searched
    to find just the right words,
    and what he wrote was
    upright and true (Ec. 12:10).

  • S Cowger says:

    Splendid use of questions and repeated answers to the questions that are themselves questions. Such is life. I was surprised by how the end swings open wide in such a generous way, in the same almost unbelievably broad way, that finding myself saved does. A good truth.

  • Sarah Klassen says:

    An engaging conversation –your contemporary response to John Donne’s metaphysical poems.

  • Sarah Klassen says:

    An interesting project, pairing contemporary verse with with Donne’s sonnets in language that’s aware of both the material and the spiritual.