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Liz Taylor’s Lovers – for Ted Joans

Steve Dalachinsky

credit: Eastman / public domain
credit: Eastman public domain

he wants desperately to
do different things
he stretches out his arms
& the leaves come to him

he is a poet

he puts out his american hands
& grain grows from their
fingertips
like the fine hairs of his whitened
beard

he wants to do things differently

he turns grain into loaves of bread
& offers it to beggars
they turn & run
for in truth
it is a different kind of hunger
they seek to quell

fine hairs @
the end of his chin
are like whitecaps on a
winter sea

he was born to see things differently

smoke & shadow
are what he is made of
he draws the leaves to his breast
as if they were his children
he expels air & like the worm
he was born

born to do things differently
desperately wanting to do different things

he gathers himself in
smoke & shadow
like fine-grained hair &
whitening seas
form his dangerous skin

he draws the air to his breath
as if it were his woman
he looks but sees nothing
his palms are dark but empty

no loaves
no grain
leaves heaped about his
feet

he is a poet
& truth
the beggar
asks him
for some bread.

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Steve Dalachinsky

Poet/collagist Steve Dalachinsky (September 26, 1946 - September 16, 2019) was born in Brooklyn after the last big war and managed to survive lots of little wars.

His latest CDs are The Fallout of Dreams with Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach (Roguart 2014) and ec(H)o-system with the French art-rock group, the Snobs (Bambalam 2015).

His most recent books include Where Night and Day Become One: The French Poems / A Selection 1983-2017 (208 great weather for MEDIA), Fools Gold (2014 feral press), flying home, a collaboration with German visual artist Sig Bang Schmidt (Paris Lit Up Press 2015) and The Invisible Ray (Overpass Press – 2016) with artwork by Shalom Neuman.

Author: Steve Dalachinsky Tags: poetry, Steve Dalachinsky Category: Poetry, Ted Joans June 9, 2017

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Comments

  1. Rochelle Jewel Shapiro says

    June 14, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    Steve, The poem is surreal, yet the images are clear. Archetypal. How moving!

    Reply

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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