Didn’t you just
catch yourself
almost tipped
too far to jerk
back? Just—
almost—like
Li Bai out of
his boat,
reaching
for the moon’s
reflection, just
that one
embrace?
It’s nailing Jello
in place. It’s
hugging clouds.
It’s finding that
Brigadoon
instant again.
Look, over
there.
This time,
lean in. No.
Lean out . . .
Almost.
About David Breeden
The Reverend Doctor David Breeden has an MFA from The Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, a Ph.D. from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi, with additional study at Breadloaf and in writing and Buddhism at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. He also has a Master of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago.
His poetry, essays, and short fiction have appeared in such journals as Mississippi Review, Nebo, Poet Lore, Mid-American Review, North Atlantic Review, Boston Literary Review, Turnstile, Nidus, and Paragraph. He has published four novels and ten books of poetry. He is on the editorial board of Virtual Artist’s Collective, a Chicago publisher. His book, This Is Just To Say: Variations on a Theme of William Carlos Williams, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Award in Religion and The Arts from the American Academy of Religion. His novel Climbing the Air will soon appear from Switchgrass Books, Northern Illinois University.
Breeden is a Unitarian Universalist parish minister in Minnesota.
One Comment
Really liked this. Must go hug some clouds.