Gene Doty

So Many Voices a free ghazal for Ilene Myers kundalini movie-strips of image fluttering through awareness like an orgasm of endless color chakra-chain of swirling spheres: a rain of petals submerging Buddha's silence, his smile, the ancient tree so many voices! so many faces! distort the body, tie its tubes into moebius knots suffused with blue birth canal opening in a country room beneath a staircase of hearts where children play invisible games unfulfilled dreams, released, bounce like foil balloons against the ceiling, their dangling strings tangled in shadows a slap on the soul! subtle eyes open into daylight, into the shimmering violet shed by a thousand vivid petals A Sheet Stained Each book of the Bible engraved on his teeth, including the Apocrypha with glosses by Paul Long-past blooming, the day-lilies stand naked and tall, a ragged skirt of clover and shepherd's purse at their roots Waking at 3 a.m.. I remember the echo of a dozen flutes played by giddy children on the first porch of summer Deep in the lilacs, where the deadwood hides, a murmur of tiny voices like beetles in a tin can. The wind turns hot. Paul and Silas stand together near the bobbing boat. Between them, they hold a sheet stained with belief.

Gene Doty teaches English at the University of Missouri-Rolla. His classes range from World Epic to Technical Writing. His current research interest is religious ideas in fantasy and science fiction, especially James Blish and Russell Hoban. Until 1988, Gene's legal name was Eugene Warren. He published several collections of poetry under that name, including Geometries of Light, Fishing at Easter, and The Similitudes. Since changing his name in 1988, he has published mostly tanka, haiku, and ghazals as well as several long angry poems. Gene has been influenced by all the usual ancestors, but would like especially to mention Jack Kerouac and Henry David Thoreau. Gene has been married for over 34 years; my wife continues to be my most reliable muse. We have seven grandchildren, who are endlessly delightful. Gene is also a poetry editor at - Recursive Angel Web page: http://www.umr.edu/~gdoty/