from THE PENINSULA
Ezra Mark
At the beginning, the arm
is in first position, advent
of the mid-point in the course
towards encounter, bringing
you back to be aware of
it again:
settled smoke
from here
to the world.
*
She whose glance
crossing over
one must be careful that the foot
leaves the ground smoothly
come into space so
now she should see the end
Finish in arabesque or
in attitude
*
Three fingers of the right hand placed
against the temple for the beating
of a vein, then on the wrist of the left
hand the slightly slower beats of
the pulse. That in the space
of memory.
The glass is broken
and she goes on reading this book.
*
Fitting as it does against the heart
as trauma is to dreams but
I do not dream too much
The years go by
why read Dante
why on earth poetry
*
We no longer think about anything
She points to a walker in the distance: she asks
what a beautiful thing is that exactly
burning burning burning burning
*
A girl is sitting all alone on a bench.
There was the whole morning before that.
The largest fire ever known. Butterflies
as if they were painted on a blue landscape.
Do we really die
Ezra Mark’s books include Retention, Setting, and Intention. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
