Hot Springs
after Robert Francis’s “Silent Poem”
rain storm rock pore flow path earth crust
thrust fault drip slope trough dam blue ooze
tile floor stained glass sitz bath rust stain
sun porch deck chair sky light gas lamp
foot bridge leaf twitch dirt trail red oak
white tail hoof prints moss stump wood thrush
chert flake clay shard pit mine whet stone
knife blade green gorge creek mud blue tent
fire ring wood smoke sign post steep road
store front plate glass stone arch tile roof
street light pump house brick walk steam grate
hot wisp guard rail foot soak spa town
Copyright © 2016 by Davis McCombs. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 7, 2016, this poem was commissioned by the Academy of American Poets and funded by a National Endowment for the Arts Imagine Your Parks grant.
“The form of ‘Hot Springs’ was inspired by Robert Francis’s wonderful ‘Silent Poem,’ a poem I’ve loved and taught for years. When I sat down to write about Hot Springs National Park, I kept thinking about the two stressed syllables of the name ‘Hot Springs’ and it eventually led me to wonder if I could write a poem composed entirely of spondees and still manage to convey a sense, albeit fractured, of one of my favorite places in Arkansas.”
—Davis McCombs
Davis McCombs
Davis McCombs is the author of three poetry collections, including lore (University of Utah Press, 2016). His poetry often reflects the landscape and history of his native Kentucky, and he lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.