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reflexive: city exhibitions
by Emily TongI.
the plugs in our ears and
necks and forearms and
backbones
removed, one and one
and one and one.
there. results but, not so great
as process.
II.
sunstreaks and young·
old·middleaged people – all
people, when did we
forget this fact? we walk
the streets. we cross the streets
but – do we see where we
are going and with whom?
III.
that which we find in
place or out,
a power unrefined. we
wonder, I wonder, you wonder,
he/she/it wonders.
did you/you all forget? it is our
own, of ourselves, our
making, doing, creating,
and dancing – eyes on
each other – together, in
this place or out.
IV.
black smudged fingertips I am
one of the masses here the
mass of individuals:
the woman who is drowning
in herself (sunk into a white
shirt), pregnant women with their children,
self conscious students, the men
in corners playing chess and cards.
we police ourselves; one
enormous intake of breath
and then that leap into
the scrutinized questioning of
ourselves: home, love,
welcome, a bench, a
house, a common tongue.
and smudged, uncontrolled,
we, ourselves
exhibit that which we find
in place or out.
10/09/2009 Author's Note: sitting in the love park in philly, people watching,
participating in the welcome house project (http://www.thewelcomehouse.net/),
doing nothing. it was, for some reason, significant
Posted on 11/02/2009
Copyright © 2024 Emily Tong
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Richard Vince on 05/03/14 at 11:27 PM great stuff. :) i only just found part IV as it's today's POTD [congratulations], but reading it as part of the whole gives it a new dimension, and i see it in a different way. marvellously evocative. |
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