AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Writing “Proverbial” took longer than I would have hoped and was aided by an early rejection from Cellpoems. When I turned thirty I thought I would write long poems of wisdom, but instead I’m writing tiny poems of bewilderment. Useful, as Larkin said, to get that learnt.

BIO:

Matthew Buckley Smith won the 2011 Able Muse Book Award for his first book, Dirge for an Imaginary World. His poems or reviews have appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, Measure, The Journal, Sewanee Theological Review, Verse Daily, and Best American Poetry. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, Joanna Pearson.