Mary Zartman

The Anxiety of New Revelation

Not trained by ancient Asian wisdom,

my conversation is hokey; pokey; flawed

by guffawed anecdotes, insecurities and abruptions.

Timing is everything, except, when it is not.

Timing can accentuate, deflate, and obliterate.

I have timing in me.

My heart beats, my feet move, my mind races to words.

I dance to my own poetry.

After conventional questions where

do we go for coffee? Where does the pastry

of common reference get consumed?

Perhaps in parking lots on your way home,

stepping around puddles of unknown

personal boundaries, a few hard won

ideas about the world, private conclusions

shared only with loved ones, bubble up

even as the evening draws its close.

I tell you,

how arrogance follows me,

why I always say,

you never know.