Hard Noises

Education is not the antidote for the destruction of the world
See: Cracked skin dry knuckle wet with blood on a climber’s hand
Jagged teeth slack jawed bottom of the mouth skyline
See: No triumph over the bootheel of power in this lifetime

The mountains are not silent
For the skiers sscht sscht sscht

The bedroom is not still
For the grace of a fan’s gears

The cackle of a downstairs neighbor through the floorboards
But then the little kitty’s purrrr turns mezzo-soprano

One solo and lonely tulip in a righteous meadow (but on a phone screen)
Large nickel-wide gap in a sister’s front teeth (but on a phone screen)

There was a time when magic was real
This is the age of no silks and all steel

In addition to writing poetry, C.T. McClintock is a memoir writer and studies the intersections of creative nonfiction, literacy theory, and trauma theory in the PhD program for English at St. John’s University. She also teaches undergraduate writing and works in the SJU writing center. Her most recent work can be found in the Remington Review and is forthcoming later this year in SoFloPoJo, Adanna Literary Journal, and Anti-Heroin Chic. She currently lives in Brooklyn.  Visit her website and follow her Instagram for more of her writing.