If I slept, I dreamed I stayed awake
all night. If I ate, I spooned the soup
of hunger. If I took a bath, I came out
covered with dust and sweat. The more jackets
I wore, the colder I felt. I tried

to rest though the springs of the bed attacked.
Like a good guest I complimented the cook
on his miserable chowder. I let my rival
wash my back, and I washed hers
as envy warmed us with its little stove.

Oh, to rise from my nervousness like a carp
from a dark pool or eat half portions when I crave
the whole poison. What soap can wash away
my foolishness or deep years wake me?

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Lynn Levin's most recent collection of poems, Imaginarium (Loonfeather Press), was a finalist for ForeWord Magazine's 2005 Book of the Year Award. Her poems have appeared in Boulevard, Hunger Mountain, Margie, Many Mountains Moving, on Garrison Keillor's show, The Writer's Almanac, and many other places. She teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and at Drexel University, where she is also the executive producer of the cable TV show, The Drexel InterView.
 

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("Hotel Paradox" first appeared in the print journal Poetry Miscellany in 2005.)  

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summer 2007 | kaleidowhirl
books and chapbooks from authors in this issue