Axis Of Rotation Poems | Examples

My Father's Lens

In a shoebox of old family photos
        sits one of my father at 21, standing like Goliath
        holding two oars across his chest like a giant X
        canoe at his feet
        before the diving accident
        before the lake rocks sliced his skull
        before the steel plate planted his anger
        erasing his beer-laced charm.
His  recovery confused by what's comfortably familiar
        having to cut away the bandages of dark.
His restoration floating on an axis of rotation
        in a new dimension of self

My father's turbulent reality, fitful form
        like someone drowning in waves
        disfigured
        a broken swell









Poem revised May 5, 2021
For Brian Strand: You Choose Poetry Contest 
                                August 17, 2021