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Writer's pictureA Too Powerful Word

John Samuel Tieman


Dr John Samuel Tieman was born in 1950. His award winning chapbook, "A Concise Biography Of Original Sin", is published by BkMk Press. His poetry has appeared in "The Americas Review", "The Caribbean Quarterly", “The Chariton Review”, "The Iowa Review", "Rattle", "River Styx" and “Stand”. His poetry also has appeared internationally in translation. Tieman is a widely published essayist and translator. He is a regular contributor to the online magazine, “Vox Populi”. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States.



Simplicity


Walking across the office

you recall the day you arrived

the air clear

millions of windows now

you know the way it goes

the crowd, spare change


So there's no end

to the indistinct mountains

the arts, cross-walks

nights you sit on the bed

and watch

a stream of traffic


Then once again suddenly

not quite depressed you remember

how different this is

the place names in Spanish

the lover

who made you stay


And you knowing the slope

overgrown with tin roofs

know miles away

a man carving a mask

stares straight at you


Mexico City, '85




Analyst


first thing this morning

the kitchen table

her short black hair

mostly combed

her "Sunday Times" open

to something she sets aside


she makes notes

about desire and the revival

of a Chekhov play

she redefines desire

makes it her own

quotes Freud then considers

Lacan and underlines again

a line she already underlined


thus begins the article

she will write

and rewrite until it leaves

her the way the words

and lines leave her

first thing this morning



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