Two Poems by
Colin Dardis
Sledgehammer
When you smash walls with sledgehammers,
one must expect a reasonable amount of debris
to form at their feet, and for your footprints
to be identifiable in the resulting dust.
Every swing of the mallet leaves a bruise
no matter the skill or grace of your grip
sliding over the handle.
It is the crack that defines all,
what is removed and taken
away as much as what remains.
With that new shape with enforced contours,
one must bend.
Imagine two hands
reaching through
the channel tunnel
in kinship
or two fists
tearing an infrastructure
only looking to swell their own range
rather than overlap.
Insertion
Insert maxim.
Insert quote.
Insert petty gripe.
Insert positive note to oneself.
Insert non-consequential event.
Insert self-promotional web-link.
Insert trending hashtag.
Insert micropoetry of variable quality.
Insert links.
Insert the seeking of attention.
Insert the need for love.
Insert the application of your boredom.
Insert the filling of a vacuum.
Insert public shaming.
Insert anonymity.
Insert the safety of distance.
Insert the immediate comfort of your own living room / bathroom / bedroom / kitchen / dining area / conservatory / hammock / cubicle / cardboard box.
Insert dick pictures.
Insert blocking.
Insert desperate direct messages.
Insert revolution.
Insert hope.
Insert loss of all faith.
Insert humanity.
Insert inhumanity.
Insert guest lists.
Insert wish lists.
Insert yourself.
Exit.
Colin Dardis is a neurodivergent poet, editor and sound artist from Northern Ireland. His work, largely influenced by his experiences with depression and Asperger’s, has been published widely throughout Ireland, the UK and USA, and shortlisted for the Erbacce Prize, Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing, and Over The Edge New Writer of the Year Award, amongst others. Previous collections include My Life Is A Film I Haven’t Yet Watched (Buttonhook Press, 2025), with the lakes (above/ground press, 2023), What We Look Like in the Future (Red Wolf Editions, 2023), All This Light In Which To See The Dead: Pandemic Journals 2020-21 (Rancid Idols Productions, 2022), The Dogs of Humanity (Fly on the Wall Press, 2019, and the x of y (Eyewear, 2018). He currently co-hosts the long-running Poetry Poetry open mic night in Belfast, and is editor of the poetry blog, Poem Alone. Colin Dardis is online at www.colindardispoet.co.uk. Colin Dardis at ē·rā/tiō.