Aug 14, 2025
The Summer You Learned to Swim by Michael Simms
seen from Germany
seen from Bulgaria
seen from South Korea
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Argentina
seen from United States
seen from Latvia
seen from Singapore
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Singapore
seen from Bosnia & Herzegovina
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Mexico
The Summer You Learned to Swim by Michael Simms
MICHAEL SIMMS
from "for lea" by michael simms || from "for julia, in the deep water" by john n. morris || from "dogfish" by mary oliver
That summer all the world was soul and water, light glancing off peaks.
Michael Simms, from The Happiness of Animals; “The Summer You Learned to Swim,”
MICHAEL SIMMS
WHO WILL TELL THEM
It turns out you can kill the earth, Crack it open like an egg. It turns out you can murder the sea, Poison your own children Without even thinking about it. Goodbye passenger pigeon, once So numerous men threw nets over trees And fed you to pigs. Goodbye Cuckoo bird who lays eggs In the nests of strangers. Goodbye elephant bird Who frightened Sinbad. Goodbye wigeon, Curlew, lapwing, crake. Goodbye Mascarene coot. Sorry we never had a chance to meet. Who knew you could wipe out Everything? Who knew You could crack the earth open Like an egg? Who knew The endless ocean Was so small? Right now, there are children playing on the shore. There are children lying in hospital beds. There are children trusting us. Who will tell them what we’ve done?
MICHAEL SIMMS
Ma Yongbo: You Are a Song the Universe Is Singing To Itself
A conversation with the American poet Michael Simms 1. Michael, your poem “Imperfect”, which is about your sister, deeply moved me. How have your childhood experiences influenced your poetry? Imperfect My native tongue doesn’t allowimperfect tense, so it’s difficultto say how something might usedto happen but no more. Elizabethused to walk among these trees.She used to walk among these…
Michael Simms: Book Launch for THE HUMMINGBIRD WAR
Dear Friends, On Thursday, April 30 at 7pm, the brilliant cultural critic Ed Simon will be helping me to launch my fifth novel The Hummingbird War, just released from the scrappy literary press Madville, led by the brilliant Kim Davis. The reading will be on zoom, as well as live at the legendary White Whale Bookstore in Pittsburgh, 4754 Liberty Ave, Pgh PA 15224. Please join Ed and me. It’s…