Expleasure by James Brasfield

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend May 15, 2015   Expleasure   James Brasfield

How time slowed when any thought                 or apprehension of the next instant                      vanished (no obligation, then or later),                   how in that long moment, all at once,            yet without surprise, how what was close                       was present in a sudden suspense,                     as such things rarely exist            as they did then, each apart from all,                       seen as it might be truly,                   and gave way to a pleasure              that had long been missing,                        to expleasure, as if I were akin                    to the smallest things—ribs              of a leaf, penny on a dresser—                        of a saving stillness, doubtless                    always here, just beyond             the scrim of what calls us                       from that silent astonishment,                    the more so since the feeling              dissolves with its presence of detail                       merging with a distant seeing,                    as when I walk through a room             and nothing is equal there to the calm                       from the simply seen.            Copyright © 2015 by James Brasfield. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “One afternoon, I had taken off my glasses and was resting on a worn quilt when the threads of its seams entered a singular clarity and stillness.” —James Brasfield   James Brasfield is the author of Ledger of Crossroads (Louisiana State University Press, 2009).  He teaches at Penn State University and lives in State College, Pennsylvania. Most Recent Book by Brasfield   Ledger of Crossroads (Louisiana State University Press, 2009) "Serenity" by Edward Rowland Sill "A Silence" by Amy Clampitt "My Proteins" by Jane Hirshfield Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038