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(Professor
Janet Hemingway describes the hissing coakroach in her hand as "a
real sweety")
Spanning
the centuries from the time before fire
time swims in us
the oldest living insect
legs flying
wings racing
antennae reaching into furtive places
and then we disappear
into gashes of shadows
a turmoil of leaves
Shunned
despised
we live in hidden warmth
away from sunlight
scurrying out at night to feed
in galvanized flurries
wide awake as the moon
And
they came to measure us
creating lesions in neurons
searing a nerve
impeding its function
stilling the restless gibber of the pulse
to study directional behavior and escape patterns
a moving shape a change not yet completed
where do you come from
where do you go
putting
insects to sleep
brief encounters when nothing hurts
a figured stillness where no nightmares hide
There is no time no space no separation
Only now
and every day's a birth
Poised
between dark and dark
in and out of seasons
we move into an echo
and watch the windblown millennia
through stone eyelids of the past
Ruth Daigon edited Poets On: for 20 years. Her poems have been
widely published both in print and on the web. Daigon's poetry awards
include "The Eve Of St. Agnes",1993 and 1994 (Negative
Capability) "The Ann Stanford Poetry Prize," 1997 (University
of Southern California Anthology). Recent publications include:
Greatest Hits 1971-2000, Ruth Daigon (Pudding House Publications,
Johnstown Oh); and PAYDAY AT THE TRIANGLE (Small Poetry Press, Select
Poets Series)
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