SUBJECT>Literally and Figuratively POSTER>Laurel EMAIL> DATE>1108883553 EMAILNOTICES>no IP_ADDRESS>dhcp024-166-083-251.neo.rr.com PASSWORD>aaFRbor6/KzWk PREVIOUS> NEXT> 83621 83622 83624 83632 83634 83644 83694 83911 IMAGE> LINKNAME> LINKURL>

Literally and Figuratively

When, in passing, you exclaimed I’m as hungry as a mole
after killing the day pedaling through snow--my feet
are cold, you complained, come closer and rub my soles,
warm them with your hands--I knew and didn’t know
exactly what you were trying to say. I took your hunger,
first, literally. Since moles like hummingbirds and all tiny
creatures have super-accelerated metabolisms that run
at such rapid speeds, the rodents have to eat constantly
just to keep those little machines running. A hunger
that never leaves. A hunger you feed and feed and feed
but never stave. I also took your hunger as metaphor,
the mole boring and boring holes, digging through hard
soil in search of beetles and worms, those over-sized
hands swimming through the dirt, the motion always
forward, forward. A dark, a journeying hunger, and me
standing barefoot in the wet grass peering down your tunnel.