Say Less

by Misha Solomon

There are things that are real
and things that are not.

There's a choice that I make
and a choice that I don't.

There's a dog in my lap
and a dog in the street.

There's a home that I have
and a home I've never lost.

There are flowers in the vase
and then some on the table.

There are dogs all alive
and flowers all dead.

There are many ways to live
and just one to be dead.

There are obvious things
and those that need to be said.

There's a pain in my jaw
so my jaw is in pain.

There's a click in my jaw
and a pain in my jaw.

There are things that I say
and things that I don't.

Both the say and the don't
do things to my jaw.

There's a life that I live
and a life that I live.

There's a there that's afar
and a there that's right here.

There's a dog in my jaw
and it's whining for love.

There are things inside things
and things all but void.

There's a void in my dog
and I fear it's my fault.

There's a fault that is mine
and a fault that's in rock.

There are stakes that are mine
and there's geological time.

There's a jaw in my dog
that will be ash someday.

There are things that I know
that I don't want to hear.

There are things I can do
and things that I've done.

There's a we that I mean
and a we that means I.

There are stories I tell
that are ones I've been told.

There are stories I tell
that are stories in fact.

There are storeys I climb
with a pain in my jaw.

There's a jaw in the ground
and I'm brushing off dirt.

There's a jaw on display
and it looks just like mine.

There's a you who I know
and a you who's unknown.

There's the caring I do
and the caring I fake.

There's the me who I am
and the me who I make.

There's a dog in my love
and his jaw is in pain.

Both the jaw and the pain
belong only to me.

There's a flower that falls
and it still smells the same.

There's the thing that I say
and the thing I regret.

There's the thing that I say
that I cannot forget.

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ABOUT THE CREATOR

Photo credit: Jean-Pierre Denault

Misha Solomon is a homosexual poet in and of Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. His work has twice appeared in Best Canadian Poetry and in journals across Canada. He is a student in Concordia's Interdisciplinary PhD program. His debut full-length collection, My Great-Grandfather Danced Ballet, is coming out with Brick Books in March 2026, and his third chapbook, Misha Solomon's Biodôme: A Bestiary after Stephanie Bolster, follows with above/ground press in April 2026.

Website: mishasolomon.com

Instagram: @mishasolomon

Facebook: @misha.solomon

Bluesky: @mishasolomon

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