Vessels
The redundancy of myself
pulls the calluses out of ropes.
Again I went into the desert
to talk the tiny tyrant of my soul
and again, I pull a rudderless boat of water
back to the ocean.
A vessel that carries
another smaller boat of dirt
floating perfectly in the center:
the continent where the idol
of myself holds another vigil
for its one true savior.
This is my vibrant vision—
the flame of the candle
has replaced the sun;
at the scorched edges of the sea
my burden ripples,
sparkling glints blind me
as I dip my calluses down
to quench my thirst; I have become it
all; the slave, the beggar, the wanderer,
the water, the earth, the savior,
the flame, the flame, the burning flame.
J. P. Dancing Bear is the author of nine collections of poetry, most recently, Inner Cities of Gulls (2010, Salmon Poetry). His next two books will be Family of Marsupial Centaurs through Iris Press in 2011, and Fish Singing Foxes through SalmonPoetry in 2012. His poems have been published in Mississippi Review, Third Coast, DIAGRAM, Verse Daily and many other publications. He is editor for the American Poetry Journal and Dream Horse Press. Bear also hosts the weekly hour-long poetry show, Out of Our Minds, on public station, KKUP and available as podcasts.
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