It was in the way
he looked at you.
Said, what are you
busy about, buzzing
through these halls,
causing no end
of shaking along the walls?
Said, here’s a heavy load—
has to be halved
somehow, some way, so
how’s about it? His half
here, hers there.
Said, shouldn’t shake
just to see a man
shoulder the shaggy
burden he shares
only with himself.
Said, there’s no thing
standing so thick
in this world
these teeth
can’t cut through it.
Lucas Jacob’s poetry and prose have appeared in journals including Southwest Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and Hopkins Review. He has work forthcoming in RHINO and Tipton Poetry Review, among others. His first full-length poetry collection, a finalist for Eyewear Publishing’s Beverly Prize, is forthcoming later this year, as is his chapbook, Wishes Wished Just Hard Enough (Seven Kitchens Press). In 2015 his first chapbook, A Hole in the Light, was published by Anchor & Plume Press.
Art: burden none should bear, digital illustration over painting, 2019
Artist Statement: I like the way the piece seems to respond to, “just to see a man/ shoulder the shaggy/ burden he shares/ with only himself.” I also enjoy the way the empty space of the artwork slices like a hacksaw through the painting to form the design.