The Failure of Navigation in the Valley
By Kazim Ali
To CD Wright
No body is fixed in position no one can be known
Still I am read by satellites my tendency extrapolated
In the mountains I have no GPS I don’t know where to go
There are those trees their leaves flicker like little jewels a whole bucketful
Darkness stares back are you even human anymore
I close the curtains at night not because I think others will see in
Turn left there but so I do not see the reflection that is pure dark
I am not afraid of anything oh is that so
Citizen bear do this place not belong to you
Unseen I wander through the thorny place of what I no that ain’t it
No fear can be knew can be none fuck how do you spell it
I held a heavy jade pendant in my hand once not in this valley in another
In the range of limited human experience how many places are there really
I don’t even have to look at the earth anymore I just have to listen
Now that hillbilly whisper guides me which way to turn how far up the turn is
Drawling like moonshine we’re really off the grid now
Making wild prayers to the green dark which kind do you mean
Thank god we thought of her recording this voice both kinds
Source: Poetry (July/August 2017)