‘Three’ & ‘The Good Place’

Zeus is a wildlife and landscape photographer whose work reflects a lifelong admiration for nature’s beauty. Drawn to the vibrant glow of sunsets and the untamed spirit of the outdoors, they capture images that blend technical skill with a natural sense of wonder. Their photography invites viewers to slow down and experience the world with fresh eyes.

Three

I number the trees as they blur past my periphery

One -two, one -two, one -two, one 

Anything to keep my mind trained on something

other than that thing that you said 

that I believed, 

and that other thing that you said 

that I just couldn’t believe 

I’ve begun to cringe at how much poets love

to engage new metrics of measurement: 

a whimper of friendship, a dollop of heartaches

How am I supposed to quantify what I feel for you now?

A grimace of calla lilies? A haunting of love poems?

A baptism of unanswered questions? 

I know poets are supposed to wield words 

like magic wands 

but I feel stunned into literality— 

I love you. I miss you. I’m so sorry.

The Good Place

a good love poem is 

nondescript in its worship 

it does not come chest beating, nor chess playing

it does not care to convince 

a good love poem is a crack in the door jamb: 

you see her 

before she sees you 

before she remembers her love 

of being seen by you— 

there’s no one there to convince 

there is just 

the being 

the loving 

the simple fact 

of feeling what you can’t help but feel

and writing what you can’t help but say

Dr. Kelsey L. Smoot (they/he/Kelz) is a Tin House Workshop alum, a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Best of the Net nominee, and a Best New Poets nominee. Proudly, he is also the author of two chapbooks: we was bois together with CLASH! (An Imprint of Mouthfeel Press) and Muse, with Another New Calligraphy. Thrillingly, Kelz’s debut full-length collection of poems, SOULMATE AS A VERB arrives in early 2026 with DOPAMINE/Semiotext(e).