the hug
takes place in perpetual slow motion
where there is a pause
before it happens
an examination of eyes and smile
that indicate the intention
a mere second before
which in its closeness could go on for longer
much longer and lead to uncharted places
it never does
it is the accepted etiquette
for gesture to say less than more
an agreement that even in this touch
there should be silence
then the fluidity of the unwrap
where what has been said
is at last unopened to the same
emptiness the least of which is burrowed
into conversation about the banal
and that of mild interest
while the hug hovers as its own ghost
a question alive in the air
for none to see and its presence felt
as a notion to engage
where so much happened
so much said about the future
that never was nor could be
James Bell – was born in Scotland and now lives in Brittany where he contributes non-fiction and photography to an English language journal. Two collections have been published to date ‘the just vanished place (2008)’ and ‘fishing for beginners (2010)’. Recent work has been in Strange Poetry, Plum Tree Tavern, Visual Verse, Picaroon, Stride, Shearsman and Tears In The Fence.
atriumpoetry.com 