Stuff I Like: Refrigerator Poems, Scott Silsbe, Hikmet

A poem from Scott Silsbe hangs in a place of honor on my fridge, right next to my kids’ school pics and a magnet that says “Coffee. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” This poem, called “Hikmet” (for the great Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet) is my idea of a prayer, a meditation, a reason to go off into the day. Every morning I’m thankful to Scott for it.

Scott has a new book out. It’s called UNATTENDED FIRE. You can buy it on Amazon now and you should, because he’s a beautiful writer and it’s a beautiful book. See for yourself:

The gorgeous cover is by Paulette Poullet, who is another Pittsburgh genius artist.

And I hope Scott won’t mind, but here’s “Hikmet.”

You should put it on your fridge, too.

HIKMET
Tonight I am thinking of Hikmet. Over 40 years old, a poet
in prison for writing poems, measuring the paces of his cell.

And here I sit trying to write a good poem. It could be that
good poems are only written out of darkness and despair.

But Hikmet said, “Living is no laughing matter” and “live
with great seriousness” and “live as if you will never die.”

I don’t need an ars poetica to say that I write to remember,
remind myself of little things that happened here and there.

Sometimes I curse myself for not writing more, but then
I tell myself that I am just working on material by living.

My copy of Hikmet has burnt flyleaves and page-edges
which leads me to believe it was rescued from a fire.

Some of Hikmet’s poems traveled from a prison in Turkey
through fire, to multiple bookstores, no doubt, to my desk.