I write poetry in part because I was told from an early age that I had the mind of an artist; as it turned out, working with words was the only artistic medium where I felt capable. I write poetry to celebrate highs and mourn lows, to record and share some of what I've experienced and some of what I imagine.

Ian Cibula

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The Upper Hand

When I was young my father and I fought;
it was early war.
In the moment he didn't care
if serrated words cut me
in ways that were hard to heal.

And I, with a Cro-Magnon skull,
smashed relentlessly into a wall that wouldn't give
with an instinct towards violence –
an instinct towards pain –

As he's aged his walls have crumbled, in places,
And I - like water –
have learned
to dart through the cracks.

It's a hollow sort of victory though –
breaching the walls of a ruined city
which you could never in your youth besiege.