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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


INFRARED MEDITATION by JANE MILLER

First Line: BODY AND MEMORY, POLES LINKED IN RAPID SUCCESSION
Last Line: BODY AND MEMORY, WHAT SURVIVES YOUR SPIRITED SLEEP.
Subject(s): BODIES; MEMORY;

Body and memory, poles linked in rapid succession
like a woods by gunfire, by a fire sweeping just shy
of the search. Fire whose aura is a mirror of travel,

our moment of doubt, red leash on which we pull and catch
glimpses. Here the invisible, here the red squirrel was.
Glory of the fire so black at dawn, so tempting by noon,

stroked by evening. When we walk back, there are cold thighs
and the sun setting flames on the far eastern hills. Dogfights
spot the warm snow, bitten ears. And you only felt pleasure

without passion, only remembered the lily flung down the spine
of the terrain as accident! Hateful to talk about exploits
like a dog: the only beautiful things are prompted by voices;

one acquiesces or fights. Called down the dark slope, you
have to make a lifeline out of a few flashes, glow and afterglow,
body and memory, what survives your spirited sleep.



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