Merril D. Smith
I want to taste every season on
my tongue—
spring lilacs, summer roses,
autumn’s dried brown leaves
as they crunch underfoot,
winter snow,
the scent of it
about to fall—
I want to see stars in my eyes
and notice the spaces in between
like the pause when it seems the sky
is holding a breath just before the storm.
I want to remember that
feathered hope can fly
through black holes
and beyond space and time
into sighs of susurrus
or prickles of petrichor
where I can swallow it—
hope is the scent of brewed coffee,
the most delicious chocolate,
a strawberry freshly picked, sun-warmed
and ripe.
It is every baby’s laugh.
Merril D. Smith is a Pushcart-nominated poet who writes from southern New Jersey. Her work has been published widely in journals and anthologies. Her full-length poetry collection, River Ghosts (Nightingale & Sparrow Press), was Black Bough Poetry’s December 2022 Book of the Month. Her new collection, Held Inside the Folds of Time (Jane’s Studio Press), was released in autumn 2025. Find her at Bluesky: @merrildsmith.bsky.social; Instagram: @mdsmithnj; Blog: merrildsmith.org.
This poem appeared in What We Hold On To: Poems of Coping, Connection, and Carrying On — Winter 2026, published by The Chaos Section Poetry Project. You can read the full collection or download a free PDF of the chapbook here.
The Chaos Section Poetry Project 
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