#MIDDLEBURY
A Fold of Sun
Magdalena Zurawski
We decided I
should go alone
on foot. I
would find
him in
the pharmacy. If
he said ‘In
the head of
God all propositions
have existed
always,’ we would make
the exchange.
He was standing
in front of the
calamine lotion.
He spoke to the
air. I slipped
the envelope into
his pocket and
bought a topical
analgesic to
avoid suspicion.
When I left, I
had a face
again, could open
an account, drink
coffee in the
sun. On the street two
women talked
of money. I paid them
no mind. I
could now always
walk with my light
to the front.
About this poem
“‘A Fold of Sun’ resulted from reading Assata Shakur’s autobiography while I had a bad case of poison ivy. The poem pilfers some lines from a broken poem that collaged lines from Samuel Delany’s ‘Dhalgren’ and is part of a trio that came about while I was reading and thinking about what it would mean to truly be a political revolutionary.” – Magdalena Zurawski
About Magdalena Zurawski
Magdalena Zurawski is the author of “Companion Animal” (Litmus Press, 2015). She teaches at the University of Georgia and lives in Athens, Ga.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
(c) 2016 Magdalena Zurawski. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
