“The body, in a very simple way, is the foundation for intelligent and cautious action.”
~ Joshua Bongard
Thank you, body, intelligent and cautious collection
of cells, 30 trillion braziers, which, when blown upon
gust a soul or at least a semblance, sweet
doomed assemblage of limbs, daily testing what
can and can’t be risked, waving your invisible
antennae to assess threat, the potential tremble
of rage or lust in what approaches, carryall
ready to hum a fugue or impress upon the world
a verse, so eager in making you risk unmaking
the very ledge you teeter on, thinking about thinking,
thinking without thinking, lulled by the rumble
of your own voice, reappearing with the sun, humble
hut, calcified and crepitus, whose eroding
has launched me on this path of hoping.
By Devon Balwit
Teacher Devon Balwit walks in all weather. Her most recent collections are We Are Procession, Seismograph [Nixes Mate Books, 2017], Dog-Walking in the Shadow of Pyongyang [Nixes Mate Books, 2021] and Spirit Spout [Nixes Mate Books, 2023]. For more, visit: https://pelapdx.wixsite.com/devonbalwitpoet