Jon Sands
Before the Bloom
One-hundred fourteen days since last felt by touch.
Still alive, even that gentle, shy touch.
In order to hold, I’d have to reach―grab.
Love your smell in a room, won’t even try touch.
Need a coat larger than my body―
Like this whole city’s a gone awry touch.
Calls move to voicemail, romance in poems.
All I feel is air, like my skin deny touch.
Woman in Washington, neck like an oasis:
keeps her heart in a box when she thinks of my touch.
One foot escapes each room I stand.
Couldn’t even hold that can’t-never-lie touch.
Four miles this morning, sweat like baptism.
Take one deep breath, feel the whole sky touch.
Could spend my entire life pretending it’s a long time.
Ripe for the pluck, either live or die touch.
Jon Sands is a poet, essayist, and author of The New Clean (2011, Write Bloody Publishing). He starred in the award winning web-series Verse: A Murder Mystery from Rattapallax Films. He is the Director of Poetry Programming at the Positive Health Project (a syringe exchange center in Midtown Manhattan), an adjunct with the City University of New York, and a Youth Mentor with Urban Word NYC. He is the co-founder of Poets in Unexpected Places, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, Rattle, The Millions, Word Riot, The Rattling Wall from PEN Center USA, and others. He tours regularly, both nationally and internationally, but lives in Brooklyn. www.jonsands.com
Return to November 2013 Edition
One-hundred fourteen days since last felt by touch.
Still alive, even that gentle, shy touch.
In order to hold, I’d have to reach―grab.
Love your smell in a room, won’t even try touch.
Need a coat larger than my body―
Like this whole city’s a gone awry touch.
Calls move to voicemail, romance in poems.
All I feel is air, like my skin deny touch.
Woman in Washington, neck like an oasis:
keeps her heart in a box when she thinks of my touch.
One foot escapes each room I stand.
Couldn’t even hold that can’t-never-lie touch.
Four miles this morning, sweat like baptism.
Take one deep breath, feel the whole sky touch.
Could spend my entire life pretending it’s a long time.
Ripe for the pluck, either live or die touch.
Jon Sands is a poet, essayist, and author of The New Clean (2011, Write Bloody Publishing). He starred in the award winning web-series Verse: A Murder Mystery from Rattapallax Films. He is the Director of Poetry Programming at the Positive Health Project (a syringe exchange center in Midtown Manhattan), an adjunct with the City University of New York, and a Youth Mentor with Urban Word NYC. He is the co-founder of Poets in Unexpected Places, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, Rattle, The Millions, Word Riot, The Rattling Wall from PEN Center USA, and others. He tours regularly, both nationally and internationally, but lives in Brooklyn. www.jonsands.com
Return to November 2013 Edition