Portrait
I used to carry in the pocket
of the brown waist coat
given to me by my father,
a man of muscular build
and little patience for that
which he had modest understanding,
especially issues of foreign policy
and affairs of the heart,
of which my mother
is guilty of being
susceptible,
dangling her heart
by a thread
torn from the seam
of the right sleeve
of her most beloved sweater
she received on the eve
of her fortieth birthday
when I was a mere boy,
innocent of the compromise
that this world forces us
to embrace,
the portrait
of a woman
I have never met
but for whom
I have tried to create
the perfect life.
–David Logan
David Logan is a graduate student in the English Department of the University
of Illinois at Springfield. “Portrait” is included in the 2004 edition of The
Alchemist Review, the university’s literary magazine. A reading of poems
and short fiction from the magazine will be held at 7 p.m. tonight, Thursday,
April 1, in the Visual Arts Gallery of UIS.
People’s Poetry accepts poems on any subject, but ones that deal with issues
of local interest are encouraged. Send yours to Books and Poetry Editor Corrine
Frisch c/o Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705, or to cfrisch@illinoistimes with “People’s Poetry” in the subject line.
This article appears in Apr 1-7, 2004.
