Seth Jani

TWO POEMS

FINDING THE SOUL

If it is birdlike
Then perhaps we will find it
Where the wilderness begins:
In the singing oakwoods,
By the chanting sea.
If it is a letter
Tucked inside the body’s body,
A secret crevice,
A hidden nook,
Then we must respect ourselves
And everything we touch.
Wherever we find it,
It is a sure enigma,
A shrine to happiness and dust.
We must keep far the analyst’s knife.
We must be patient and awake.

GLACIER

I want to be still.
Star-like, unperturbed as ice.
Under this canopy
Of clockwork darkness
Let the wounds heal over.
You can’t have anything
Except the fading.
The leaves are not yours.
Not their bodies,
Not their brittle spines,
Not the color yellow.
But the mere feeling
Of autumn can be held
For lifetimes.
In this, the voiceless
Gathering at the creek
We learn the wind’s identity.
Never ascending.
Never descending.
Just circling through the trees.
We must deal as best we can.

 

Seth Jani originates from rural Maine but currently resides in Seattle, WA. He is the founder of Seven CirclePress (www.sevencirclepress.com) and his own work has been published widely in such journals as Big River Poetry Review, The Foundling Review, Phantom Kangaroo, Red Ceilings Press and Hobo Camp Review. More about him and his work can be found at www.sethjani.com.