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Brian Henry

Disguise

The one who stands before you gleaming
to attract attention where
attention is least desired
seems to float into a place you did not make
with your anemic gestures at the fore.

Nor does he count
to himself or to you, who cannot count
without bringing letters into it —
a process without purpose,
no problem to be solved.

The problem divests itself of respons-
iveness to the problem, a solution
not yet ‘at hand.’
                 The limbs of the one
before you, not the limbs of the one
you wish for, you force those against the wall
with a look, sputtering, and walk on

to other appointments.

Brian Henry has edited Verse since 1995 and recently founded Verse Press. His first  book, Astronaut, appeared recently in England from Arc, and has also appeared in Slovenia in translation, and is forthcoming in the U.S. from Carnegie Mellon University Press. He now teaches creative writing at the University of Georgia and lives in Athens.

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