Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Kathy CoffeyNovember 16, 2009

The birds of the hands:
feathery fingers, arms
arched in parentheses.
Breathing in rhythm,
a forest of branches,
a pod of dolphins,
steel-spined camels:
“we can be anything.”

The body a playground:
swings, loops, slides
winged postures like stars
yoga dance as of language
freed from stodgy syntax.

Breath crests; wave
spills its liquid silver.
Toes sculpt commas,
punctuate the sentence’s
coiled energy, verb-driven
to the quiet pool of rest,
curled in balls like children.
Stillness hushes
eloquence: sweet period. 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

A century ago, Al Smith was a force in American politics—and the first Catholic to mount a major run at the White House. And if he is to be believed, he didn't know what an encyclical was.
James T. KeaneFebruary 18, 2025
Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both lungs according to the medical report from his doctors this evening, Feb. 18.
Gerard O’ConnellFebruary 18, 2025
The pope needs to prepare for his inevitable decline and death.
Thomas J. ReeseFebruary 18, 2025
His clinical condition is “complex,” the Vatican said.
Gerard O’ConnellFebruary 17, 2025