Poem 47 – the intimacy of skin

the intimacy of skin

“…how come, how come
I anticipate nothing as intimate as history

would I have had a different life
failing this embrace with broken things…”
From ‘thirsty’ by Dionne Brand

nothing is more intimate than skin
       the bag of it
mighty body buttress   clasping
the broken & betrayed
cupping loss in a wrinkled elbow
standing at attention on the round 
of a raised nipple

in the case of skin
such persistent embrace
everything within is
          storied
DNA histories traceable
to spectrums of beginnings &
affinities for the lies of death

fragments of selves
land on the rug
mingle with dust & dirt

skin lives
exclaims its place – a
      declarative dancer
pressing against
      lamenting love
lasting & lasting & lasting

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To learn more about Dionne Brand, and of course, to order her books (!), please visit here.

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This snow! It refuses to quit. There’s so much, when the dogs went out to pee this morning, I could see that it snuggled up against their bellies. They were a bit befuddled, the pooches. All I could think about was how grateful I was to be inside…watching. Later, I’ll bundle up and go shovel. I’ll sweat under the layers of sweater, scarf and parka. I’ll let the flakes smack me in the eyes. This is Winter at her finest. This is living in a city with seasons. This is the miracle of weather.

Novel Update: Slow. Slow it goes. Haven’t opened the file since last Wednesday. The work part of my writing life is busy. I’ve got a lot of prepping and reading to do. So I’m facing each day with a new list, new priorities. ‘Work on the novel’ is always on the list…but where…but where is always sliding.

How is your writing coming along?