The Brave Never Write Poetry by Daniel Jones

Author:Daniel Jones [Daniel Jones]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Coach House Books
Published: 2011-07-03T16:00:00+00:00

Maria

Never much needed a muse

when I had the beer; yet for so long

my fingers have been silent, the many days

of hospitalization have taken

something from me. I am

waiting

I meet Maria

in the Nam restaurant; I have answered

her ad for companionship & sit uneasily

as she extracts my letter from a sheaf

of others. Her lips move

silently with each of my words; I study

the sharp lines of her face, find

the delicate silver earrings in her hair,

my eyes brush the cool skin

of her exposed shoulder. There are no words

for the way in which she lifts

the shrimp to her mouth. Maria is

an artists’ model & she also paints

sometimes. I am lost

in the taste of black beans & pepper sauce,

my body cleansed of the weeks of hospital

fare

After the meal, Maria

sips a European beer; I gulp

green tea, smoke cigarette after cigarette.

She talks of movies & painters; I probe

but do not penetrate, my words crumble

like ashes. Her eyes are somewhere else

We stand outside the restaurant

at a distance & say goodbye. I watch

her walk down College Street until

she is obscured by cars & passersby &

night. I know that I will never see her

again

Late in the morning

I sit at my desk, stare out the window

at the street. This is the ludicrous

hour when poets & lovers have always come together,

alone. My books stand in alphabetical order

behind me. Uncertainly, my fingers

once again touch the keys of the typewriter.

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