2 Poems by Daniel Summerhill

Daniel B. Summerhill is an Assistant Professor of Poetry and Social Action at California State University Monterey Bay. He lives in Marina with his wife, Quianna and daughter, Genesis.

His work has appeared in or is forthcoming in Obsidian, Rust + Moth, Califragile, Button, Cogs, The Hellebore, The Lilly Review and others. He holds an MFA from Solstice of Pine Manor College.

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bouquet

when we thought the world was ending, flowers began blooming
                                                                         -w.j lofton

if not a revolution, a broken window--
an angiosperm in my hand, a bouquet of flowers

in front of me, the shards glisten half yellow-
half opaque & arresting like

              freeze tag, i am preserved & anxious
all at once                      the body always knows

how to signal pain, vivid colors
don’t call me hero, i am no hero, i am

a white blood cell standing in front of this store,
smoking & amber, watching the spring bloom





in defense of survival

i don’t know but it’s better
than not having
nothing to fight for

                                     again, my homies die &
they label those of us on deck
“survivors,” in the longest stretch of the word
           as in, we entered this world dying
& count our blessings each time god takes
                                                    our friends instead

pardon my audacity,

                                        not even small prey
desire to survive