for Mirage Movement Theater

In the winter
the drifts blew around the building
and the sun dazzled the snow
on the storm windows
while inside
we lived in primordial swamp
caught in insect immobility by the pounding feet
of the giant newt
resounding off the dense walls
of the foliage of imagination
which came to life in our bodies
and plodded across the very real varathane floor
in all the disguise of our various personalities.

When Summer came
we hauled ourselves out of the mud,
stood on our hind feet,
and spied the universe
peeking at us from the stars
while the music of the spirit
drew our heads to a single point
and we completed a show
we never knew we could do
or hoped to be part of.

 

James Van Looy has been a fixture in Boston’s poetry venues since the 1970s. He is a member of Cosmic Spelunker Theater and has run poetry workshops for Boston area homeless people at Pine Street Inn and St. Francis House since 1992. Today marks his one year anniversary as a poet columnist for Oddball Magazine.