I have trusted the smell of bread. I have trusted in the promise of hours. I have trusted in emptiness. I have trusted in repair. I have trusted the wind to remove the dead. I have trusted in the other side. I trust voice and echo. I have never trusted an animal but have been kept whole. I have trusted the invisible. I have trusted in cars and I have walked the sides of roads. I have trusted the bees and now I give them my children. I have trusted blankness and the order of words. I trust humiliation and beards. I have never trusted water. I have trusted the arc of a basketball, the camaraderie of sweat. I have trusted plumbers. I have trusted hands. I have trusted miracle. I trust the old songs. I have trusted in doing without. I have never met hope. I have rushed to the side of fear and have trusted in nearness. I have trusted in guardians and in the thin lie of my own guardianship. I have trusted in brands and ritual. I have trusted oil and the shudder of the desperate prayer. I trust age. Leave graves for the young to trust. I have trusted that forgiveness wears out and anger gets bored. I trust in periphery. I trust there is a core. I trust widely. I have not trusted enough.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 20, Issue 4.
Chris Haven’s poetry has appeared recently or is forthcoming in Blackbird, North American Review, Denver Quarterly, Atticus Review, Mud Season Review, Fence, and The Southern Review. Another poem appears in issue 13 of Cider Press Review. He teaches writing at Grand Valley State University in Michigan.
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A little late (but no later than last year), CPR Volume 13 is now on its way to the printer!