# [Poetry Unbound](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/) [Michael T Smith](https://substack.com/profile/69672518-michael-t-smith?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264268837 "May 24, 2026, 5:49 AM") Liked by Pádraig Ó Tuama The day my wife and son go to church And I stay behind Although yesterday I spoke something As I write, I become unraveled And I stay behind When I was younger I would draw pictures As I write, I become unraveled I couldn’t have known how fast it would go When I was younger I would draw pictures And anyway I still draw, well paint I couldn’t have known how fast it would go I had a dream that God told me to stop And anyway I still draw, well paint Although yesterday I spoke something I had a dream that God told me to stop The day my wife and son go to church --- [Karen Ehrens](https://substack.com/profile/13356317-karen-ehrens?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264311517 "May 24, 2026, 8:18 AM") This came together so well, and so deep. Keep painting with color and words. --- [Michael T Smith](https://substack.com/profile/69672518-michael-t-smith?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264311781 "May 24, 2026, 8:19 AM") Thank you, Karen. I will! --- [Nancy R Heisey](https://substack.com/profile/19964327-nancy-r-heisey?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264535966 "May 24, 2026, 4:20 PM") Writing a pantoum on Sunday has its own rhythms! --- [Rebecca Stultz](https://substack.com/profile/47147682-rebecca-stultz?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264545816 "May 24, 2026, 4:43 PM") Don't stop writing, drawing, or painting. The God/Jesus I know wants to see and hear your thoughts and feelings. --- [Michael T Smith](https://substack.com/profile/69672518-michael-t-smith?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264595508 "May 24, 2026, 6:42 PM") Agree, thank you --- [Lisa Sjostrom](https://substack.com/profile/5894334-lisa-sjostrom?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264510103 "May 24, 2026, 3:21 PM") Please don't stop, no matter what G*d tells you! Very evocative, especially with your wife and son at church and your staying behind... Love this and thank you, Michael. ~Lisa in VT --- [Michael T Smith](https://substack.com/profile/69672518-michael-t-smith?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264510420 "May 24, 2026, 3:22 PM") Thanks Lisa! --- [Nicola Grove](https://substack.com/profile/26112974-nicola-grove?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264404598 "May 24, 2026, 11:42 AM") me too, none of us knows how fast it will go..ravel yourself back --- [PAT](https://substack.com/profile/28613222-pat?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264344879 "May 24, 2026, 9:39 AM") Very thought provoking!!!!! --- [Michael T Smith](https://substack.com/profile/69672518-michael-t-smith?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264345307 "May 24, 2026, 9:40 AM") Thank you --- [Jo Mosser](https://substack.com/profile/173939816-jo-mosser?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264272492 "May 24, 2026, 6:05 AM") i love this --- [Michael T Smith](https://substack.com/profile/69672518-michael-t-smith?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264272705 "May 24, 2026, 6:06 AM") Thank you --- [Mark Gerow](https://substack.com/profile/9502193-mark-gerow?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 26](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/265473682 "May 26, 2026, 11:30 AM") 1. today there is a kind of withdrawing cold that lingers in your fingers around the warm mug of relief 2. and I become stuck in an addictive loop of coffee refills and good intentions to write 3. although yesterday there was space for sunshine and warmth that caused me to move and undulate 4. as I write I feel a contraction of muscle and resistance to the very thing that brings me levity 5. when I was younger I rarely resisted the cold and off-putting weather, lunging with galloshes and innocence --- [Paul Brassard](https://substack.com/profile/5650982-paul-brassard?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 25](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/265001680 "May 25, 2026, 2:00 PM") Michael, this is so good. You have captured brilliantly, I think, that universal conflict of God, no God. God-fearing family man vs. what? A non-believer? A pantoum for us all. --- [Michael T Smith](https://substack.com/profile/69672518-michael-t-smith?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 25](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/265055476 "May 25, 2026, 3:52 PM") Wow, thank you for saying that Paul. --- [Lisa Marie Simmons](https://substack.com/profile/9772959-lisa-marie-simmons?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 25](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264968917 "May 25, 2026, 12:55 PM") Beautifully done Michael. --- [Michael T Smith](https://substack.com/profile/69672518-michael-t-smith?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 25](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/265055723 "May 25, 2026, 3:53 PM") Thank you --- [Dora Odarenko](https://substack.com/profile/166586271-dora-odarenko?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 24](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264669389 "May 24, 2026, 10:14 PM") I love your last five or six lines! They pull the whole poem together! Dora Odarenko --- [Michael T Smith](https://substack.com/profile/69672518-michael-t-smith?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [May 25](https://poetryunbound.substack.com/p/what-time-is-it/comment/264754081 "May 25, 2026, 4:03 AM") Thank you Dora