After The Kiln

I notice the crack in the clay, except it’s too late for mending as the kiln has already fired the work solid. At this point, the only solution is to smash it to the ground, so the shatters are all in the light. With knees on the floor, slight cuts burning, we can pick up the tiniest of shards created and possibly put it back into what it once was.

There’s a chance the glue won’t hold, but it doesn’t mean it’s worthless. Instead, we can rebuild. We’ll change it into a shape we’ve never seen, and maybe we’ll come to love it far more than what it once was. For truth, the shape no longer could hold what we have now become. And, personally, I see the good in that.

Mackenzie (Mac) Gellner born in New Westminster, British Columbia, completed her Bachelor of Communication in journalism at Mount Royal University. Her articles have been published in CBC News, the Florence University of the Arts magazine Blending, The Calgary Journal and The Reflector. Her photography has been published in Kelp Journal and soon WA Magazine, and her poetry published in You Might Need To Hear This and, in January 2024, Beyond Words Literary Magazine's anthology. Mac also, during field school in India, co-produced a short documentary on self-expression with the Sri Ram Ashram.