Selections

THE BODY'S ARAMAIC

She said, I miss the mountains of Persia
He said, I will build a mountain of love for you
Here, in our new country. Be with me.
Live in the temple of now

She said, Listen to the body’s Aramaic
The flesh groans with memory
Ninevah, Babylon, and the birth of the world
between the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates
back when sex was a sacred act

And our bodies, carrying the jug
from exile to exile, keep something of the imprint
of the great goddess with the lion at her side
The body lowers gracefully

its fat clusters of grape, anklets jangling
Beads of sweat lace the hips, the navel
trembling with what is being born
in the flesh of this moment:
The first kiss, new knowledge, absolution

Travel, and the earth will speak to you
Dance, and the belly will remember
the body’s Aramaic,
its ancient ways of love