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Sep

2009

Thursday Read Write Poem

Posted on 20:10, September 3rd, 2009 by EKSwitaj

Read my latest story, "The All-Nighter", at 52|250.

The Fire Spinner

she spreads out her arms for balance
but no one can balance
weight of the star
the rerum star sanctorum
forever and ever its number of points
debates the nature of sacred s
inscribed in a circle
of air, wood, fire

that can’t be kept apart
if you keep your eyes open
long enough to expose
tracers of motion
back through your skull
and into your flesh

long after gaudeamus, gaudeamus
when she goes home
with your crumpled dollar bill
and someone else’s quarter
to feed her bed-ridden mother
& someone’s limping child

written in response to read write prompt #90

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Posted in poetry | print

6 Responses to “Thursday Read Write Poem”

David Moolten on September 4th, 2009 at 12:44 pm

I like how you begin this with an appeal to sacredness, iconograpy and use of Latin (nice touch), and then move ironically to the sordid and mundane at the end.
David Moolten’s last blog ..Street Performer, Mexico City

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EKSwitaj on September 4th, 2009 at 6:30 pm

Thank you!

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Paul Oakley on September 4th, 2009 at 3:42 pm

I like the way your street performer is fully human rather than a type.
Paul Oakley’s last blog ..Countdown to redemption

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EKSwitaj on September 4th, 2009 at 6:32 pm

Thanks: that’s always a challenge when working with tropes of sacredness, even when they eventually become mundane/profane.

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Nathan on September 5th, 2009 at 7:23 am

I love the blending of lyric and narrative modes here.

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EKSwitaj on September 5th, 2009 at 11:19 am

Thank you. Working to combine those two modes is one of my primary interests as a poet, though it usually manifests as short lyrics making up a collection rather than one poem doing both.

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