30 Comments
User's avatar
Ricardo Guzman Jr's avatar

This absolutely floored me. Your poem has a true sense of direction, disguised in the tediums of the day, discarding everything along the way that ducks away the soul, until you are left with what matters. F---ing beautiful, man.

I look up to you in this writing game, but mostly I have to thank you for letting us all feel your soul.

Brother Rob's avatar

Gonna pretend you wrote this about Benno when you went to visit him

Jokes aside: this is lovely

Josh Datko's avatar

Flip that desk! :) You are making me blush over here Adrian. Very nice.

Adrian's avatar

It wasn’t about you, you. 😝

Josh Datko's avatar

:)

Lourdes Lidman's avatar

Bellisimo!

Daniil Frolov's avatar

Great stuff. Lyrical, imagistic, purposeful. Very strong speak's voice. Subbed.

Adrian's avatar

Sick! thank you, bro

Victory Palace Poetry's avatar

Wow, flipping those desks in the temples of day job land! Love it! This was really awesome.

Paris Brightledge's avatar

I played this in the presence of my wife. very nice.

Echoes of Memory by Sally Cave's avatar

It’s even more breathtaking in Spanish.

Adrian's avatar

Gracias :-)

Sam Tripton's avatar

Here’s to flipping those desks 🥂

Joshua Herrera's avatar

I feel this deeply. Thank you.

Adrian's avatar

You’re most welcom, Joshua. And thank you for reading and commenting 🙏

Masen's avatar

Wonderful from start to finish Adrian, almost teared up reading this one. I pray nothing but blessings and prosperity over you and your family, God bless.

You're living proof having a full time job, a wife and kids wont ruin our writing dreams, over 40 hours a month of dedication to our craft.

Favorite Line-'I want to tip the whole desk over, walk out mid-shift and call it a resurrection, start again with nothing but my own pulse and your breath.' breathtaking

Adrian's avatar

Appreciate you, Mason. Thanks for taking the time not only to read but express your feelings on my work. The support from talented writers like yourself is what drives and inspires me.

Jacob Alexander's avatar

So beautiful, feels cathartic to read and very relatable. Nice work!!

Kurt Stein's avatar

Corazón 🩵 Not me jealous

Mandy Morris's avatar

So much truth here about love, loss, and rebuilding from what’s real. And I adore the family photo too.

Adrian's avatar

Honeymoon in Italy 😊

Michael Mortimer's avatar

This is the best poem I’ve read thus far on Substack. It’s so refreshing to find that truly human voice among all the AI slop. There are so many great lines. There’s so much passion.

Adrian's avatar

Truly appreciate your time and kind words, Michael. Welcome to the loom!

Dipti  Vyas's avatar

Refusal dressed as a love poem. This is a quiet revolt.

You refuse the official measures of worth and relocate meaning to breath, transit, touch, the unsanctioned places where life actually happens. There’s no posturing here, just a clean subtraction: titles made weightless, intimacy given gravity.

The ending is the sharpest cut. Resurrection isn’t becoming more, it’s removing every false scene until only the one true thing remains.