1 Poem by Daniel Ari

We are just passing through

The one who shakes
IS the shaking.

A person can turn into
a shout in the woods
or a long spill of loud tears.
We shake to give ourselves birth.

The saints ask outright for what they want:
'Put your hand on my forehead.'
'Lay myself down.'
'Go away!'
'Water, please.'

The saints only answer yes-no questions;
The saints only answer yes.


Bionote

As poet laureate of Richmond, California, Daniel Ari created the 2017 Richmond Anthology of Poetry, the city's first. His book One Way to Ask (Norfolk Press, 2016) combines original poems in a new form called queron with illustrations created and curated in collaboration with 67 artists including Roz Chast, R. Crumb, Henrik Drescher and Wayne White. The book won the Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye Award for design and was a finalist for the Lascaux Poetry Prize. Daniel has had work published in Poet's Market, Writer's Digest, Africa Vs Asia Anthology, McSweeney’s, Winning Writers, Defenestration, carte blanche, Thema, NonBinary Review, and many others. He supports his poetic life through his career as a marketing copywriter where he has written haiku for Google.