Most read ▸
Bob Perelman
given the brain being an industrious
essay just beginning physically
un-inked and hopeful
and given the skeletal structure
rolling over and away from the heartbeat
galloping off ahead of the heartbeat
gambling and running back to wait for the heartbeat
Jim's I think drinking his heartbeat
always mentioning purple everybody's heartbeat
and given the cool brain riffing
through the smoke to the clear sky-writing
and given this conservative
forming and reforming of the letters
"boys will you burn the leaves?"
This industrious thing
can't be trusted
i reach deep into the layers
of your being and tap into the
deep tangles of fleshy heartstrings
to feel your heartbeat through
vulnerable skin, fingers barely
grasping that ba-thump-ba-thump
in my embrace. i hold that small
ember in my palm as if it was a precious
wonder; and as the tricoloured rain
dances right before my eyes, and
the sunlight rips a tear in the artificially
darkened sky, i find myself melting
into your steady rhythm, my own melody
fitting right into yours, synced syncopation
of a duality intertwined almost into canon —
my world isolates that noisy beating
Sweeter far than lyric rune
Is my baby's cooing tune;
Brighter than the butterflies
Are the gleams within her eyes;
Firmer than an iron band
Serves the zephyr of her hand;
Deeper than the ocean's roll
Sounds her heart-beat in my soul.
Let it go on; let the love of this hour be poured out
till all the answers are made, the last dollar spent
and the last blood gone.
Time runs with an ax and a hammer, time slides down
the hallways with a pass-key and a master-key,
and time gets by, time wins.
Let the love of this hour go on ; let all the oaths and
children and people of this love be clean as a
washed stone under a waterfall in the sun.
Time is a young man with ballplayer legs, time runs
a winning race against life and the clocks, time
tickles with rust and spots.
Let love go on ; the heartbeats are measured out with
a measuring glass, so many apiece to gamble with,
to use and spend and reckon ; let love go on.