Verdad Magazine Volume 14
Spring 2013, Volume 14
Poetry by J. P. Dancing Bear
On the Lip of the Valley
Is the woman in the shadow of want
wondering at the man
on the valley edge
Is the man looking at the patchwork
of landscape below
like it is his life
She fondles a lock of his hair
stolen from their bed
last night
The world breaks off in squares
long lines and angles
She leaves the bedroom door open
a draft rustles her summer dress
Cool air raising the fine hairs
on her thigh
His hands in the intimate spaces
of his front pockets
She imagines his hands are a soft rain
soaking her clothes to a cling
And she breathes in deep from it
tasting and smelling all of him
and she does not call him
She stays long into the shadow of want
waiting for him to turn around
accept her unspoken call
BIO: J. P. Dancing Bear is editor for the American Poetry Journal and Dream Horse Press. Bear also hosts the weekly hour-long poetry show, Out of Our Minds, on public station, KKUP and available as podcasts. His latest books of poetry are Family of Marsupial Centaurs and other birthday poems (Iris Press, 2012) and The Abandoned Eye (FutureCycle Press, 2012). His thirteenth collection of poetry, Fish Singing Foxes will be released by SalmonPoetry in 2013.