Not-Measured Now
crotchety pain! / needling yourself into the way things go
and bossy mind always gabbling / tripping carefree feet
give up ! / not wanted here
but longing / where / deep bucket / do you wait?
I am trying
to feel
body / strung along the spine
arms and legs extending into space
tethered / but stretching out / over-reaching
until in one moment
I hear
leaves shiffle and sigh
bark bleed sugar / an insect pause to decide
a homely web / wait
in this not measured now
want yawns a wider gape
my self / many selves
apart / together
separate / not alone
Poem and Image by Jo Mariner
Poems for THE LIST (eners) 
Written with an effective economy of words, the poem’s opening is very disturbing – created by words such as ‘needling’ – and indeed: ‘body strung/ along the spine’ conjures up an image like a surreal painting, but also suggests to me a repulsion or disregard of one’s physical body – or that life is not really worthy of bothering with. I am not quite sure what ‘bark bleed sugar’ is trying to convey, but it suggests to me that nature offers something sweet, beautiful and consoling – hence when’ in’ the natural world nature, it makes the ‘narrator’ feel differently about life. They feel differently about life from at other times. I really can relate to the sentiment of the last stanza. I’m sure many readers will identify with the notion of being ‘many selves’. A short , very interesting poem , Jo – with some very powerful imagery which effectively conveys the sentiment of that last stanza. .
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Thank you Barbara for your careful reading. L. Jo
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