Jungle Book 6
Matthew Cooperman
Instinct arrives in the form of a lizard
who comes to my table at lunch
a strong commotion at the thought
of the feeding the hunger the feeding
It is jungle jail the edge of the clearing
the near/far tide coming in
O Lord of the Lizard–
Description
is a failure to seem in the noonday sun
Thus night comes Little Princess
the night which tears at the sea
with its urgent white line
I am nearly fifty and growing tired
You are my hunchback my window
and my roar
If there is something to be done
with this life be My
Jungle Book 9
Matthew Cooperman
And then went down to the shore
set eyes to see across the sea
a family found and scattered
We left our carries there
We set up house and bore the heat resplendent
Ways we could not plan edges a blessing
and a curse `til day’s quick end
Deepest water carries a weight of wood
from farthest distress and we we found
we were distressed and heavy for many years
A godly sea delivered wear from tears
and made us whole as fish
We will be tired `til the end of days
We will cover the glitter of sun rays with love
a piercing place unpeopled shore
to crown in sand what gold cannot deliver
Matthew Cooperman is the author of the text and image collaboration “Imago for the Fallen World,” with Marius Lehene (Jaded Ibis, 2013) and others. A founding editor of Quarter After Eight and co-poetry editor of Colorado Review, he teaches in the Creative Writing program at Colorado State University.
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