"The World on My Shoulders" by Nina.
© Please do not reproduce without artist's permission.
STAYING THE COURSES
by Tim Suermondt
The sway of the world
always enthralls me, even
when the world disappoints.
I love the mixture of gravitas
and sexiness—the mind in a book,
the hands holding a pair
of thin, light-colored panties—
what a night for astrophysics
and human beings. I walk the wide
boulevards, the side streets reeking
of red, exotic roses—my feet moving
to a rhythm I actually believe is mine.
Tim Suermondt is the author of two full-length collections: Trying to Help the Elephant Man Dance (The Blackwater Press) and Just Beautiful (New York Quarterly Books). Some of the publications that his poems appear in or are forthcoming from include: Poetry, Blackbird, PANK, and Ploughshares. After many years in Queens and Brooklyn, he has moved to Cambridge with his wife, poet Pui Ying Wong.
