Poem: “The Broken”

By Alberto Ríos

Something is always broken.
Nothing is perfect longer than a day –
–

Every roof has a broken tile,
Every mouth a chipped tooth.
–

Something is always broken
But the world endures the break:
–

The broken twig is how we follow the trail.
The broken promise is the one we remember.
–

Something changed is pushed out the door,
Sad, perhaps, but ready, too ready, for the world.
–

Something is always broken.
Something is always fixed.

–

“The Broken” from A Small Story About the Sky. Copyright © 2015 by Alberto Ríos. Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press. See coppercanyonpress.org.