Three Poems
by Sheila Murphy
SHE WOULD OFFER HER ASSENT
“In a princedom by the sea.”
– Vladimir Nabokov
Here (w)here navigable trespass
slinks toward running
water, that it might baptize,
thereby cleanse the will
of its karma, stills
the Aeolian harp. Box zither
accepting the nudge of midges
lamplit beneath a fervent sky.
And moves beyond the directive
of the eyes (the ayes), for
she would offer her assent
and not in passing. She would
find the ambit and warm it
with young forearms, thus
falling into the arms of another’s
pinpointed desire. That potentate
mirrored something unbidden
within her younger skin. Her
polished unwintry visage made whole
by bird north symmetry along
the breezeway canal where people
stalked purported history.
I had at last sufficient opportunity
to waste time eloquently, she westered,
averting his lecherous glance dis-
guised contemplative in that ministerial
way one privileged by mistaken
takes taking the edge off what is
deservedly beautiful as intact.
HONORING THE SCULPTOR
Is consensus possible (primacy recency effect
when desire for (loans on margin
reciprocity turns zeal (tiptoned hourglass faked
What is self (to mirror this
pure static whiteness (shrill imagined kiss
honoring the sculptor (blankly coexisting once
who loves what (how quiet lurks
he has made (past tense looming
more than self (define the design
And when whiteness (later the kill
turns warm flesh (reversal of stillness
can healing begin (new roles assumed)
PLANCHETTE
Just let go begins the exercise. Spirits move the hand more freely than you. Breathe yes together for the nonce. It starts with respiration. How is it wheels so quaintly, accurately dance? Feathery light across a firm board with wheels on. One can remedy the cold dark withoutness of having to draw the loved one forward. Maybe melody might comply. Today it’s raining sodden light. Desire fits the mood, in the hope of deepening the wood to walnut in this august room where propped books are to be believed. Say moan, say rain, change location proximate to what. In contrast to riverdance, step step step steely upon each wooden plank. What is invisible retrofits play. How to attract and reach the center of invention that guides us beyond the here.
Sheila E. Murphy is a text and visual poet. Her recent books include American Ghazals (2012), Noun that I’ve Been Watching (2012), American Haibun (2012), the Daylight Sections (2011) and, with Douglas Barbour, Continuations (2007) and Continuations 2 (2012). She earned a BA from Nazareth College, an MA in English from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and a PhD in Educational Administration from Arizona State University.
COLD SIGNAL 