Saturday, December 14, 2013

A Kazim Ali Poem (1)




Prayer




Prayer


Denuded and abandoned I recite
but what do I want

To rise again from the ocean
or be buried alive in the surge and sleep

To be a fearsome range in a single body
or to wind my unity down into depth

Missing in action, ghost-like
bobbing in the distance

Singing psalms to terrify myself
into deciding:

So long liberation

My time in the world was
only a gesture

My body a lonely
stranger

an ache
I never knew


(2013)

1 comment:

  1. To read some more of this terrific poet's work, see:

    http://www.thethepoetry.com/2013/12/poems-of-the-week-kazim-ali/

    ReplyDelete