ISSN: 1941-4137
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
Emma Johnson-Rivard is a doctoral student in creative writing at the University of Cincinnati. Her work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Coffin Bell, Red Flag Poetry, and others.
March 11, 2026
today, i’ve started to roam
our homes understood the clock and
subsequent circumstance. we filled
our walls with books and damaged animals,
an echo to our own scars. this is mine,
i explained once. this is safe.
but remember, said the poet,
that art cannot save the whole world. i
know this, too.
many surrendered. half didn’t have enough
to survive anyway. it didn’t have to be
this way but
we are still here. beyond gravestones,
today is a badge of honor.
Like all poetry about politics, this one is both entirely too specific and entirely, indulgently, too vague. In discussions with an artist friend of mine, we came to the conclusion that we're neither naive nor young enough to believe that art will save the world. It's a beautiful sentiment but it doesn't bear out. There's real work involved with that shit. Nonetheless, art has a role. Art can, and should, speak to the circumstances of our lives and the work we're attempting. I don't believe in a hopeless world. We are still here for a reason.
Glass: A Journal of Poetry is published weekly by Glass Poetry Press.
All contents © the author.
All contents © the author.
