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fall 2003 | The Culture Issue

Present Continuous for Future Arrangement

Aliki Caloyeras

I am writing about the smell of strawberries,
recalling maps dotted with multicolored pegs.

I am writing about the best methods for washing lettuce,
thinking about fragility and yielding flesh.

I am writing about garbage day,
holding up what we keep and what we throw out.

I am writing about my sister’s thickening waist,
weighing hopelessness against human striving.

I am writing about the strangeness of human bodies,
recognizing nakedness and humanity.

I am writing about the cold coming through my double panes,
grasping physics and security.

I am writing about home, walking through a city park,
considering the cold winter ground.

I am writing about my visible breath,
listening for the coming spring and what we take for granted.

I am writing about ice breaking from the trees,
sensing how easily bone turns to ash.