Essays, Art and Plays by Dan

Billy Antonio’s Exposed Wishes feels like stepping into a stripped-down theater, where the absence of elaborate sets and props sharpens the focus on the essentials. Here, the simplest elements—a branch, a farmer’s hands, a swing swaying in the wind—become powerful symbols that command the stage, their presence amplified by their simplicity.

The collection unfolds as a series of vignettes, each piece capturing fleeting moments with the brevity of haiku. Like a minimalist stage production, the work finds beauty and depth in restraint. Antonio’s poems don’t hand over meaning on a silver platter, nor do they deliberately obscure it. Instead, they linger in the in-between—where fullness arises from emptiness, and presence emerges from absence.

Here are selected poems, each accompanied by reflections:

staring at the branch long after the birdsong

This quiet moment captures the paradox of silence. The branch, once alive with birdsong, now holds a different kind of presence. It is not diminished by emptiness; instead, it becomes a vessel of possibility. In its stillness, it hums with unspoken energy.

mudcracks
the folded hands
of a farmer

In these three lines, Antonio compresses a universe of struggle and resilience. The image of mudcracks speaks of drought and hardship, while the farmer’s folded hands suggest both prayer and dignity. These hands—weathered by labor—plant, harvest, and persist, embodying a quiet defiance against the harshness of the world. They remind us of the power in simply continuing.

what remains after this blackhole

The “black hole” is a cosmic metaphor for the consuming force of grief and loss, a void that swallows light, memory, and certainty. Yet Antonio offers a glimmer of hope. Even in the aftermath of such annihilation, something endures—a fragment, a shard, a faint beginning. These remnants, though fractured, hold the seeds of renewal.

Exposed Wishes is more than a collection of poems; it is a meditative stage where time, stillness, and impermanence perform a subtle yet profound drama. Antonio challenges us to be patient, attentive, and willing to engage with the silences. For those who linger—who, like the poet, stare at the branch long after the birdsong fades—this work offers a deeply transformative experience.

We leave Antonio’s poetic theater with a renewed sense of what it means to truly see: not just the swing but the air it carves; not just the branch but the silence it cradles; not just the black hole but the fragments of hope that remain.

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You can read the entire book in the THF Digital Library. Please share your favorite poem from the book with us.

Book of the Week – Exposed Wishes by Billy Antonio