‘My Bravery Was Child-Like’ & ‘In the Desert You Can See For Miles, but Things Still Sneak Up On You’

Matthew McCain is an author and fine artist with 3 of his novels reaching the top #10 on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. His fine art paintings can be found all around the world from London to Las Vegas with Bar Rescue’s Jon Tafer and Alice Cooper’s Teen Youth Rock Center in Phoenix, Arizona. McCain has developed a style he calls “extreme contrary”, which is meant to generate hidden meanings behind his pieces along with the titles.

My Bravery Was Child-Like

nursed by a mother’s love

giggling rolling crawling 

surprises flinched 

screaming for the embrace of comfort

it played and bragged

hoping to be noticed, it flew 

from the top of the slide 

face-first.
but avoided the monkey bars

then it was brazen and loud,

banging like a drum

pints of courage flushed my cheeks

and the redgold blood melted stone.

Its toll paid, my bravery is an old animal

sniffing along paths already walked.

It will scavenge its meals, 

it will last the Winter.

In the desert you can see for miles,

but things still sneak up on you.

We were made of dirt

and couldn’t agree on how to ration the water

(I wasn’t getting enough).

We uncorked the barrels 

and poured them into an old trough

(to see how much each person drank).

We gathered in a circle and watched it

evaporate

Garrett MacKenzie was born and raised in Rochester, New York, before going on to study English and Political Science at SUNY Oswego. After graduating he moved to the Pacific Northwest to start a career in wildfire. He is currently a career smokejumper. He has spent the past five years traveling and chasing fires across North America. He spends his winters with his fiancée, Tori, and their two dogs, Talulah and Finley.