Mind-Body Problem by Wayne Miller

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend May 16, 2016   Mind-Body Problem   Wayne Miller

When I touch your skin and goosebumps lift, it’s your mind that surfaces there. When your iris tightens mechanically around your pupil, that aperture becomes for me the blacked-out cockpit of your mind.                                         It’s your mind that touches your tongue to mine, your mind that, when you’re driving, lowers your hand to my thigh almost mindlessly.                                    Your mind like a pilot light inside your sleep, your mind that beats your heart— slower, then faster—infusion pump in the chest, flooding your mind.   But your heart is not your mind. The curve of your hip; the soft skin of your wrist is not your mind. The tumor growing in your brain is just your brain, I say.                                            The shape of your face; the sound of your voice, which I love so much, is not your mind. Your mind spills through—fire   I can’t stop watching from the far side of this darkening valley.            Copyright © 2016 Wayne Miller. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “‘Mind-Body Problem’ is a love poem that considers how philosophical abstractions become acute and discernibly present in the face of illness and loss.” —Wayne Miller   Wayne Miller is the author of Post- (Milkweed Editions, 2016). He teaches at the University of Colorado Denver, edits Copper Nickel, and lives in Denver. Poetry by Miller   Post- (Milkweed Editions, 2016) "Having it Out with Melancholy" by Jane Kenyon "Endymion, Book I, [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever]" by John Keats "A Myth of Devotion" by Louise Glück Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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