To measure humanity’s purpose
in hunger and funerals, count
divots in the bark of an oak
tree. The voids collect
raindrops, nestle the beetle
and the worm. In the hollows
that litter our peripheral
vision, measure humanity
as the depth of a stomach
or the depth of a grave.
I want to believe everything
tossed in a hole hits a bottom.
When another body greets the earth
I try to ignore the silence that follows.
–from Claim Tickets for Stolen People, ©2022 Ohio State University Press
Quintin Collins (he/him) is a writer, assistant director of the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program, and a poetry editor for Salamander. He is the author of The Dandelion Speaks of Survival and Claim Tickets for Stolen People, selected by Marcus Jackson as winner of The Journal’s 2020 Charles B. Wheeler Prize. Quintin’s other awards and accolades include a Pushcart Prize, a BCALA Literary Award honor, a Mass Cultural Council grant, the 2019 Atlantis Award from the Poet’s Billow, and Best of the Net nominations.
