Up ahead a slice of bone,
Donna J. Gelagotis Lee
the sun’s thin shoulder of light
riveting against blue, the shock
to the eye apparent, like a line
you can only begin to understand.
This blind spot suddenly reveals
something of yourself when the farmer
on his donkey changes altitude,
the center of a photo you are framing,
the unexpected shadow you notice,
salt lining your lips. Why are you alone
on this road as the villager,
who is used to having his picture
taken, passes? Why, when the fishing boats
knock against the dock below and the faint
lap of tide rolls onto shore, is yours
the only shadow on this steep decline
to the village where you sleep,
where everyone you know sleeps?
Donna J. Gelagotis Lee’s book, On the Altar of Greece, winner of the Gival Press Poetry Award, received a 2007 Eric Hoffer Book Award: Notable for Art Category and was nominated for a number of awards. Her poetry has appeared in publications internationally, including antiTHESIS, Cimarron Review, Magma Poetry, The Massachusetts Review, and Mediterranean Poetry. Her website is www.donnajgelagotislee.com.