Another Westerner on Kintsugi

If you want any saving done,
I’m not your man—too old, too short
and weak, not nearly enough of whatever goes
in front of a cape or cross.

In reality I could repair, if not the world,
a few of its particular vases.
One technique calls for joining shards
with molten gold, the breaks
acknowledged and made to shine.

For lack of literal gold, I might click
dollars to a seemingly good cause,
take in another stray—
on defense like an outfielder or,
for lack of talent, one who stands
passing sandbags as the water rises.

*

J.D. Smith has published six books of poetry, most recently the light verse collection Catalogs for Food Lovers, and the 2022 fiction collection Transit. His books in other genres include the essay collection Dowsing and Science (2011) and the children’s picture book The Best Mariachi in the World (2008). Smith works as a writer and editor in Washington, DC, where he lives with his wife Paula Van Lare and their rescue animals.