Written by David Anthony Sam

The empty man
drinks unsweetened coffee
and watches the invisible wind
tease skirts as vagrant
women walk by
in flaunts of unknowing beauty.
Left in their wake
he bathes in their indifference.

The empty man awaits
a book’s fall from a shelf
to open a right page.
The words remain shuttered
and he is more of silence.

The empty man watches
the river’s ambiguous flowing
from atop a bridge
and fails to jump.
He still drowns
as he walks away.

featured in our winter 2018 issue