Dancer by Patricia Spears Jones

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend October 27, 2015   Dancer   Patricia Spears Jones

The man with the black feather tattoo pares this space Between fantasy and the memory of a man’s carved Torso, designed for stroking and celebration.   Today the sun’s brightness is like that lover’s kiss, Wonderful in the present and greater in memory.   A memory that brings me back to that black feather’s Flutter. Stars dazzle in some other part of this world Where the sun has set and the moon illuminates Swans diving into voluminous waters.            Copyright © 2015 by Patricia Spears Jones. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “I am not a fan of tattoos, but the black feather on the Brazilian dancer was a mark that could not be unseen. It is always interesting to write about desire, what sparks it, how to obtain it, what happens when it is gone. The dancer’s movements, that tattoo, his beauty—ah the sparks.” —Patricia Spears Jones   Patricia Spears Jones is the author of A Lucent Fire: New and Selected Poems (White Pine Press, 2015). She teaches at the City University of New York and is the curator of Words Sunday, a literary reading series in Brooklyn, New York, where she lives. Poetry by Jones   A Lucent Fire: New and Selected Poems (White Pine Press, 2015) "Want" by Katrina Roberts "The Problem of Hands" by Louise Mathias "Witness" by Forrest Gander Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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