13 Ways of Looking through a Black Eye
By J. Daniel Valencia
I
The thunderstorm smell of the fallen
Made his black eye twitch open
For a moment
II
I am of two minds
One eye black one I blind
III
The fist flew in a frenetic arc
All discussion ended with a sharp parabola
IV
The woman and the black eye
Are one
The woman the black eye
And the lie
Are one
V
I don’t know which is worse
The tension
Or the pain
The cringe-hum
Or the tinnitic whistling and singing skin
VI
A boy in tatters shivers
Behind a closet door
A sliver of light a shadow
Moves to and fro
Speaks an old language
VII
Oh fans bellowers eggers on
Why do you glorify the blood
From the safety of the circle
VIII
The black eye
Sees things
That are not there
IX
The black eye is the center
The circle of onlookers is the circumference
The black eye is gone but it is there
The circle is nowhere but it is everywhere
X
Even the heart of the pacifist
Beats more quickly
With my black eye
Am I victim or aggressor
XI
Pugilist
Heavy breathing kaleidoscope
Of violence
Swings at shadows
Growls at the silence
XII
As man evolves
So too does his reach
XIII
The eye is not truly black
It is within a swollen landscape
Like overripe fruit about to burst
The black eye hides knowledge
J. Daniel Valencia is a graduate student at the University of Central Florida MFA creative writing program where he received a merit fellowship. He has published a poem in The Cypress Dome and numerous opinion columns in the school newspaper (Central Florida Future), Red Herring, and Rage Magazine.
© 2009 prickofthespindle.com |
