Carmen Giménez Smith

AM I THE MARINER

Am I the mariner          and whose bird was it    and how          does absolution work
and why not float                      abroad and did you ever pick up a hitchhiker and what is

the lostest        you've been   the catholicest      how many year             do we have and do 
allergies die and go to heaven or does subterfuge ever talk amongst          itself and why would 
you believe         this mouth                  and is there starlet in that boy                    and do 
the books tell us about the necessary ambiguity and           the one in which you are the actor 
and am I the audience or the other way around          am I       the mariner          the one who
louses up the place        am           I    a sign    of the raptures  to come        like a pre-
rapture      am       I         a blur on      the lens       am I that moment     will I be reincarnated 
as elephant   as king as flea       as barnacle      am I      the locus of that one’s        discontent    
why am I your discontent    how do I hang from your neck    when will I be   graced with  release

Carmen Giménez Smith  is the author of four poetry collections. The most recent, GOODBYE, FLICKER, won the 2011 Juniper Prize in Poetry and was published by the University of Massachusetts Press. She teaches creative writing at New Mexico State University.