Poetry Friday: Arc & Hue by Tara Betts

Tara Betts

Release Party
Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012-2802
Sunday, September 20
5:30 pm to 8:00 pm



Erasure

Every face slowly dropping out of the world
like they never had breath, laughter or tears.
Chunks of history scooped out of the book of life,
burned for kindling, tossed into landfills
buried in chips from obsolete computers.

Too many bodies have been drawn
into centrifugal black holes, never to be seen
before they come clearly into view.

There must be some weathervane willing
to announce a shift in the wind.
There must be a gust of hands willing to turn
the rooster’s iron head away from absence.

History is pulled from my mouth
slow as a string of pearls, one bead at a time.
I stock the shelves with more substance than
porcelain figurines. I am raising my fists,
bareknuckled, tangling with omission.
Or it is an embrace caught again and again
between my fingers.



Tara Betts is the author of the upcoming book ARC AND HUE, her debut collection on the Willow Books imprint of Aquarius Press in September 2009. Tara is a lecturer in creative writing at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. She is lso a Cave Canem fellow.

Tara is fantastic poet, educator and activist. Visit her website. Impressive site. You'll find links to her Facebook and MySpace pages, events and bio. Most importantly, support the poet and purchase her book.