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Body Talk

by Peter Pereira

While the ear may hear what
the head heard, lips can slip or lisp.

Wrists will twist or twirl while
the hand writes the wriest writs—
lamps-lit palms opening to psalms.

But when the spine is supine
and the penis ripens, the mind
neither snipes nor opines.

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Poem of the WeekPeter Pereira

Peter Pereira is the author of three collections of poetry, including the Hayden Carruth Award–winning Saying the World (Copper Canyon Press, 2003) and What’s Written on the Body (2007), a Washington State Book Award finalist. He has been published in literary journals and anthologies and has appeared on National Public Radio’s The Writer’s Almanac. Pereira is a family physician living in Seattle.
Poems of the Week: 2008 - 2009

Poems of the Week: 2008 - 2009

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