ars poetica

i tend to observe the chasm that creaks
open slowly embrace the gap spreading down
snuffing out a rising up to mend it i am
learning to re-smile with 
out porcelain guillotines lately
the effortless things 
are the things we take 
for granted i have been
informed that restoration often 
requires
a breaking a
breath decisive a
pause a
sacrifice of letters 
a concise contortion a 
snap cycle
i prefer to keep the gap i
peer over it
scanning its textures 
welcoming the vermin that seep
this growth it
peels easy like blood
orange and feels as 
natural as hugging a cliff’s edge

OLIVIA DORSEY PEACOCK

Olivia Dorsey Peacock is a poet and family historian from North Carolina. She has received fellowships from The Watering Hole and the Arts & Science Council. In 2025, she was a GoodLit Fellow and a Goodyear Arts Artist-in-Residence. Her writing has appeared in Lucky Jefferson, The Petigru Review, and poetry.onl.