April 2016
I’ve been writing poetry since college (mid 50s). Fortunately everything before 1974 has been lost. Since I don’t engage in good practices such as setting aside a time every day to write, I’m occasionally surprised at how much I’ve accumulated. Some of my published poetry appeared in Poetica Magazine. The rest is out of print. I’m Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Louisville. I’ve just submitted a manuscript for a chapbook.
Poem
It sits in your belly,
Corkscrewing through your brain,
Screaming for release.
Metric feet march across
The littered landscape of your mind,
Stamping out irregular expressions,
Drumming up sanitized similes
Laced with trenchant metaphors.
All the while, with calm exterior,
You smile the peace of an ordered life.
Then it erupts, etching passionate
Scratches on A4 rag bond, and
You stop and muse: Is that all it was?
It sits in your belly,
Corkscrewing through your brain,
Screaming for release.
Metric feet march across
The littered landscape of your mind,
Stamping out irregular expressions,
Drumming up sanitized similes
Laced with trenchant metaphors.
All the while, with calm exterior,
You smile the peace of an ordered life.
Then it erupts, etching passionate
Scratches on A4 rag bond, and
You stop and muse: Is that all it was?
©2016 Edwin S. Segal