Sam Smith

Bridgend, Wales, U.K.

Sam Smith is editor of The Journal (once 'of Contemporary Anglo-Scandinavian Poetry'), and publisher of Original Plus books. He has been a psychiatric nurse, residential social worker, milkman, plumber, laboratory analyst, groundsman, sailor, computer operator, scaffolder, gardener, painter & decorator........ working at anything, in fact, which paid the rent, enabled him to raise his three daughters and which didn’t get too much in the way of his writing. Now in his 70s he has ended up living in South Wales. He has several poetry collections and novels to his name, his latest two collections being Speculations & Changes (KFS Publishing) and Local Colour (Indigo Dreams). His latest novel, Trees, has been published this year by Wordcatcher of Cardiff, who are currently in the process of re-issuing paperbacks of several previous titles. The collections Problems and Polemics and Rooms are out in paperback, as are the novels Something's Wrong, The Secret Report of Friar Otto and The Care Vortex. For the past couple of years and more Sam has been campaigning for Wales to have its own Poetry Library.
Blog - http://www.thesamsmith.simplesite.com
Websites - http://sites.google.com/site/samsmiththejournal/
http://samsmithbooks.weebly.com
http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/index.asp?id=90

Poem written on the 9th May 2020.

Future's Footnote

In any eschatological examination of a human life
disregard the insincerity of tears. Pay more attention

to a smudged-out insect, or the stink of burning feathers
near any poultry-processing plant. Draw comparisons

with the 1918 flue epidemic, which saw an end to
one hundred million of all ages and shapes.

Observe how truly impersonal death is,
regardless of applause for medical staff.

Dead is dead, whether one gets murdered by bandits
or negligently sat on by some heavy-handed son of toil.