Issue 5.2
Spring 2026
Michael Brosnan
What I Lean On
food clothing soap a warm bed
the rewrapped handlebars of my old bike
music—live/recorded/felt
what is found in the unboned force of mushrooms, the spiraled shell of the volute
—nature’s hints at what must be hidden
the weave of story and the reach of gardens
the honor in good work
birds corking up from the sea feather-dry
a banjo on anyone’s knee
the need for joy to out-maneuver suffering as love out-maneuvers each question
of doubt
the bar at dusk at the downtown pub overlooking the cove’s tidal swing where
herons and ducks and gulls and cormorants and osprey feed
the slow disintegration of midlife arrogance
the idea that progress can salvage the wreckage of progress
the grace etched into the face of nonviolence
my children’s full-on laughter
my children discovering the calm in curiosity
ditto for that boy I saw this morning—the one staring at the cacophonous swamp
trying to suss it all out
Michael Brosnan is the author of four collections of poetry: Pareidolia (2026), Emu Blis, Bums Lie, Blue-ism (2024), a finalist for the Wandering Aengus Book Award; Adrift (2023) and The Sovereignty of the Accidental (2018). His poems have appeared in numerous journals and have won awards from various arts organizations, including the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. He is also the author of Against the Current, a book on urban education, and writes often on related matters. He lives in Exeter, New Hampshire. More at www.michaelabrosnan.com.