1 May 2005 | Vol. 5, No. 1
The Into or On
She thinks she's Harry Houdini's bathrobe.
Waves lapping at the hem. Her wrists. Women
who. Cannes in June, asleep on the cot. Or
Sunday strollers in the park. Stop. Rewind.
A room hushed or hovering into darkness. Time
written on a doorknob. We bolt upright with
7 AM coating our ears. Maybe to eavesdrop on
the couple in the aisle seat. Flowerpots on
the patio. The murky summer afternoons of sweat
beads or sky puddles. A cocktail lounge where everyone
is subtle red. The spectacle of watching
animals mark off their territory. A children's
choir singing in the courtyard. Suitcases full
of polyester. Landscape is like resembling mirrors.
Perhaps micro dung. Or fruit imported from one
hand to another. His palm. A train pulling out
of the station. From someplace myself. Oily
gears rotating a tiny box. Then other times,
just bending an elbow could be considered global.
About the author:
After almost a decade of working as a freelance photographer in Europe, Maurice Oliver returned to America in 1990 to work for the Los Angeles Times. In 1995, he made a lifelong dream reality by traveling around the world for eight months. But instead of taking pictures, he used the same creative energy to record the experience in a journal, which eventually became dozens of poems. His poetry has appeared in or is forthcoming in The Potomac Journal, Circle Magazine, Tryst3 Journal, Eye-Shot, FRiGG, and Red China. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon, where he works as a private tutor.
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by Maurice Oliver at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 5, No. 1, where "The Into or On" ran on May 1, 2005. List other work with these same labels: poetry.
