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from Sleeping With Sappho
by Stephen Vincent
4.
]heartless
]tentative
]I will not
]not for you
]darkness
]
]the footfall
]
]pure crimson
]
9.
]
]
]
]thoughtless
]her sandals
]
]double-knotted
]
17.
]sleep
]without a face
]
]
if yes, spring
]birth
]
]She refuses song
no x or y, they throw down
their strings (not once)
rejection haunts her tongue
her absence. No ripple in her dress
nor chatter from her silver anklets.
She suffers
because he insists:
his body a stiff column of marble.
Without a word
she refuses.
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Walking Theory (Junction Press: 2007) is Stephen Vincent’s most recent book. Previous titles include Walking (Junction Press), A Walk Toward Spicer (Cherry On the Top Press), Sleeping With Sappho (faux ebooks), and Triggers (Shearsman ebooks). Recent poems have appeared in New American Writing, Volt, Crayon, 26, Masthead, Onedit, and the Hamilton Stone Review. “Haptics” was the name of a recent show of his drawings at San Francisco’s Braunstein-Quay Gallery. The First 100 Days of President Obama (haptics & facing journal entries) was an exhibit, performance piece and new book produced at Steven Wolf Fine Arts Gallery on April 29, 2009 (the 100th Day), Vincent’s blog featuring critical commentary, new writing, photography and art projects.
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