Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Tuesday poem #101 : Barbara Henning : A BEDOUIN MAN



A Bedouin man isn't certain
whether joining a revolt was
life's proudest moment or its
ruination.  The object in your
pocket is a tracking device
that just happens to make calls.
Just perch the clock near the bed
and put your phone on the stand
and it will record your sleep
patterns. Hello. Good night.
The days are going so quickly.
Perhaps we perceive quickness
more in our busy lives than
people did in previous centuries.
Yesterday, Americans used
their sizable advantage to run
others ragged. We lay the child
down into his bed and find
each other under the sheet.
Now with four arms, four legs
and two heads, we circulate qi.
Then the arm starts turning
sideways in a gentle curve, tracing
an S shape, the thumb heading
up as the palm turns parallel,
our bodies and souls parallel.
Oh, the grief of separation.
Don't think, dear, stay here.


Barbara Henning [photo credit: Michah Saperstein] is the author of three novels and nine collections of poetry. Her, most recent books of poetry are A Swift Passage (Quale Press), Cities and Memory (Chax Press) and a collection of object-sonnets, My Autobiography (United Artists). A DAY LIKE TODAY is forthcoming from Negative Capability Press.  She lives and teaches in New York City for Naropa and Long Island University where she is Professor Emerita.

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan

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