Life and What Comes After
For Paul Eluard
it seems
there is only
the triumph of the flesh
the sucking of the marrow
the green
the brown
the light
& the deep dark sky
filled with constellations
the conservation of sighs
wordless fatigue
& pine needles
consternation
a balding head
the red
me shave close skin blotch
lonely deer clearing crippled
you my friend a gun
birdbluesky
windsweptpetite
fall surrounding us
we crush fruit
& crack their pits
between our
teeth
beneath our feet
the souls of the nobody’s
of the animal dream
we split logs
smiles falling like bark
i a handle
you a blade
breathlight
we hang
empty cisterns
on ashen branches
feel the cold
& fog the glass
& drop
slowly drop
& stamp the ground
& rub our palms
& drink our teas
& settle,
no,
huddle beside the fire
to study the baboon’s heart.
Art Information
- “Campfire & Starlight” © Martin Cathrae; Creative Commons license
Steve Dalachinsky was born after the last Big War and has managed to survive lots of little wars. His poems have appeared extensively in journals in print and online, including Big Bridge, Milk, Unlikely Stories, Xpressed, and Evergreen Review, as well as in anthologies like The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (Thunder Mouth Press, 1999).
Steve’s most recent chapbooks include Invasion of the Animal People (Propaganda Press, 2010) and The Mantis: For Cecil Taylor: The Collected Poems 1966-2009 (Iniquity Press, 2010). His book The Final Nite & Other Poems (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2006) won the the PEN Oakland National Book Award. His latest CD is Phenomena of Interference, a collaboration with pianist Matthew Shipp (Hopscotch Records, 2005).
