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Kazim Ali: Cave

May 13, 2011 by PBQ

There is a web of blue and green in his dream

seedlings of sky and grass thrusting up from the ground

suddenly again he’s in music

years after his promise to his body was broken

and the silver cord severed

the spirit sent like a ghost ship

to trawl the dream terrain, wrinkled and blue

music leaks roughly from the body

the way the stomach empties itself of vomit

days and days after he stays weak

making the promise, writing it into all the crevices and corners

a vow that cuts through surf

so condemned then to a steady stream of silver cords

isn’t it better, his tricky innards reason with him, to be like this:

lost, afraid, hungry, and alone

deafened in the cave of your own breath

no web spun across the mouth, no angel inside—

Filed Under: Contributors 74, Issue 74, Poetry, Poetry 74 Tagged With: Contributors 74, Kazim Ali, Poetry, Poetry 74

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