Friday, July 11, 2008

Poem

I just finished reading this anthology yesterday. The book is published by Film Forum Press.
Here's a poem from the book:

Manganese (Mn)
by Deborah Poe

this is not the chemistry of hibiscus blossoms
or the color of lithium steam coming off spring
it is not the Hangzhou rain shower
as tea leaves settle for the day,
or the steady stream of canoe paddling

these shivery nodules, like ancestors,
are immortalized-- i mean in ways
loneliness is related to time

abyssal plain still as bodies
bulbous sediment in seabed
unaware this is blackberries' season
with tang off september vine

a moray eel slithers by and by
like rattlesnake looking for sun--
finds only the taste of saltwater
gulps like the taste of skin

the manganese nodules keep growing
centimeters over millions of years--
microbes precipitate hydroxides
seawater breaks down basaltic debris
manganese remobilizes in columns
volcanoes, metals, and springs.

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