Circling
You left
me shredded and ravenous
No morsel
on my bone
No
reddened glint of muscle
My temple
a pecking stone.
Only the
heft, imperious
Forthcoming
from your throat
Letters
all jumbled and backwards
A schism
of lightning: your storm.
At last
the rain came forward
And
melted each black note to naught
So I
found the strange center of nothing
And
floated my hungry thoughts.
The dream
dove returned with new branches
The
promise of peace on the land
The slash
of divisions abolished
No
owners, no conquerors, no gods.
A
child is wanting some manna
That
hangs to excess neighbor's tree
The
bucket beside him kicked empty
For
nothing is free that is free.
Laura Manuelidis is a physician and author of scientific
papers as well as poetry. Her book of poems Out of Order was introduced by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, and she
has published in literary journals including: The Nation, Oxford Poetry, Innisfree, Evergreen Review, and Pirene's Fountain. She was
nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize and has given invited readings in the
USA and Europe. Additional information can be found at:
http://medicine.yale.edu/labs/manuelidis/www/manuelidis_poetry.html
