Nicholas Samaras is the author of Hands of the Saddlemaker and American Psalm, World Psalm. He is currently completing a manuscript of poetry focusing on experiences of exiles and refugees, “Citizens of Transience.” His most recent poem for WLT is “Exile Dossier” (January 2019).
PHOTO: Andrea Moroni, Patmos / Flickr
Only travel can teach us anything. Only travel can move us out of our staid lives into a fresh perspective, to see before us what has not been before us....
The bruise of ink on white paper.
The words that line transcription and record.
I know I am more than this thin sheaf.
The written name of my village
can’t say anything about the openness
of its...
The 200,000 lights in the Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation in Paris represent the number of deportees sent from France to Nazi concentration camps. Photo by Zak / Flickr
Martyrs of the Deport...
Inventing Peace
I make this room
a country of peace.
Within these walls, I am the harmony of an individual
with no nationalism, claims or agenda,
no chorus of discord,
no borders but redwood wai...