Growing City (1956), Eleanor Coen
Eulogies of Motion
To listen for home—
(in appearance at least)
the movement of capital
labor
footsteps or piano keys.
The rebellion of dying is movement
of wrens through the thirsting grass
regardless of border or season
silence hurried
through the fact
of people forever leaping
never touching the third rail,
calling out across the distance
with scarves and countries
and drains to unclog.
The rebellion of movement—
to say I have seen this place before
to praise the stolen bread
in a pigeon’s beak
to thank each needful wing.
And still
the fact of us
existing stubborn
as ivy across untended stones—
the rebellion
to name it all home
despite the lateness
of the hour.
This poem is written after Trevor Mathison’s soundscape, The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening. Italicized phrases are quoted from the piece and the voices it encompasses, including Stuart Hall and Selina Nwulu.
ZACHARIAH CLAYPOLE WHITE is a Philadelphia-based writer and educator, originally from North Carolina. He holds a BA from Oberlin College and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, where he was a Jane Cooper Poetry Fellow. His poetry and prose have appeared in or are forthcoming from Bourbon Penn, The Baltimore Review, and The Rumpus, amongst others. Zachariah has received support from the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop and his awards include Flying South's 2021 Best in Category for poetry as well as nominations for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Zachariah teaches at the Community College of Philadelphia and the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College.
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