Tuesday poem #463 : Jessica Laser : William James

 

 

 

As I enter the station, my first heart stops.
I begin, chopping the foot of a tree.
Its branches are unmoved by my act.
Its leaves murmur. Peacefully as ever,
I do violence to the foot of a man.
I hear the conductor calling “all aboard!”
If I stumble as I run
If a cinder enters my eye

I enter the station.
The conductor calling “all aboard!”
Stops my first heart stopping
My second heart beating
The foot of a tree, the foot
Of a man. I hear violence calling
Its branches unmoved.
They are moved, I insist.

 

 

 

Jessica Laser was born and raised in Chicago. She is the author of Planet Drill (Futurepoem Books, forthcoming), winner of the Other Futures Award, and Sergei Kuzmich from All Sides (Letter Machine Editions, 2019). 

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan