Tishon Woolcock
THIS IS NOTHING
This is nothing.
I have wrapped it
in a bow. It is big
and so the bow is big
and the nothing appears
bigger than it actually is.
I am holding onto it
because, of all my things,
it is easiest to carry.
It is not light.
Nor is it heavy.
But it has heft
the way a gun
has heft.
I haven’t found a
good way to conceal
my nothing. I carry
it with me at all times
like an organ. I haven’t
found a good way to
tell my lovers
about my nothing.
Usually it happens
early. My lover
notices this nothing
and asks about it.
I say, “This?
Oh, this is nothing.
I am holding onto it because,
of all my things,
it is easiest to carry.”
Born in Jamaica and raised in New Jersey, Tishon Woolcock is a writer who came to poetry by way of a 4th grade teacher. His first poetry collection is The Letter All Your Friends Have Written You: Poems by Caits Meissner and Tishon (2012). Tishon has read his work at Poets & Writers Connecting Cultures Reading; Symphonics Live; The Bowery Poetry Club; La Mama Theater; Nuyorican; and The LouderArts Reading Series. He is the founder of the small press, Well&Often.