Samuel Dickerson

From the Sinking Acoustic Guitar

I keep it in my strings, ready  
to let loose and bring all of you with me. When  

I was played you submitted  
to my trance, the tiny notes and the grand 

chords pushing you gently, a kind hand  
on your back. The soft rhythm of a folk song  

entered your bodies, your minds or whatever is behind  
them, whatever leads us to agreeing time  

runs away from everyone just the same. Now 
it escapes me, this dreadful idea of buoyancy  

drags it out long enough for me to tell you  
I’ll be under this lake awhile. My amber wood  

and silver frets won’t be as pretty, won’t be 
themselves. Time is erasure. The water will try 

to keep me, but it will undo me. It can’t help  
it. You must hold me, carry me 

forward how I carried you, in your minds 
or behind them, where I used to reach. 

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Samuel Dickerson is a student at Salisbury University majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and Computer Science with a concentration in AI. He works at his university's Nationally Competitive Fellowship Office, is an assistant editor for his school's literary magazine, the Scarab, and is an intern at 149 Review. He grew up in Chesapeake City, MD.