Bodywork

The body that knows us holds us together,
holds our skulls onto our necks, our shoulders
to our spines and our feet, our tired feet
tie our legs down. We shake our hands
and blink our eyes and think our thoughts
and feed our plans. Our bodies
hold on until we're safe to relax. Breathe fast
while we still can. Shake it out
until it's past. What passed was our brain
curled up under our skulls. Our bodies keep working
until we let them go.

after Bly

for god's sake if you love a poet
then listen to the poems and then leave him alone
Jeffers said this on his way to the sea
and all the damning seabirds screeched on

they are circles and they spin me around for god's sake
if you love a god then listen to its silence
and then leave it alone my hands are open wide and my fingers
fall apart I have a wagging tongue and I forget that

it's connected to the back of my mouth
and then all the way down through my spine I mean I am
exploding and contracting I am running
and then am crawling I throw myself down

to my palms and my knees and I chase my two dogs
through our home one is a puppy and one old enough for calm
both of them chewing on bones I am bones
and I hurt and I expire I am blood

and I breathe and I reach out listen to the fountains
the bats and the breeze in the moonlight
if you are a poet leave them alone deep in the belly
in my belly I am waiting I am waiting for what?

my god to reach out