Trade In
Jack Stewart

Trade In

The maples redden, dependable as mesas.
At my age, I might still feel the edges
Of crisis sometimes, and the car dealership
Tube men are going epileptic
They are so desperate for a sale.
 
But under a cuticle of moon, the cedars
Are sharp and dark, and copper beeches
Billow in every season. I know
My body will always be unfamiliar now.
Even words ache.
Even words, hauling their cargo of grief,
Don’t want to say what they need.

Jack Stewart

was educated at the University of Alabama and Emory University and was a Brittain Fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His first book, No Reason, was published in the Poeima Poetry Series in 2020, and his work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Poetry, the American Literary Review, Nimrod, Image, and others. He currently directs the Talented Writers Program at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.