November 6, 2024

Confirm Humanity

reading one by Marie Howe

(What The Living Do)

remembering things dropped

(dreams, threads, lives)

despondency so easy a thing

to grasp, to keep

recalling what has been held

(the casual beauty of every day)

smile intermingles tear

stays, reassures

confirms

to actually be alive

is a grand and glorious thing

“Confirm Humanity” appeared in a CAPTCHA as I signed up for the Poem a Day from poets.org. Something in the phrase intrigued me and I wrote this poem, with a slight echo to Marie Howe’s lovely poem “What the Living Do”.