In the Tent
Before the sizzle of cast
iron on grease and chattering
crows sounding the alarm,
such a supple space to
lay awake in a sleeping
bag, rolled up like a napkin
in a French bistro, zoned out
to the blithe, unconditioned air
bending the fly with dribbling rain.
In the tent, the world loses
its power. Wandering without
rising through a Black Widow’s
web, the last frontier of the dream.
George Cassidy Payne is an independent writer, domestic violence counselor, and adjunct instructor in the humanities at Finger Lakes Community College.
George's blogs, essays, letters, poems, and photographs have been published in a wide variety of national and international outlets such as USA Today, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, The Buffalo News, Albany Times-Union, Syracuse Post Standard, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, The Toronto Star, The Minority Reporter, Chronogram Journal, Ovi Magazine, CounterPunch, Moria Poetry Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, and more.
George's first book of poetry, A Time Before Teachers, is available at Amazon.com.
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Lovely! I’ve been “there”.