Now a man can crack in many ways -- can crack in the head, in which case the
power of decision is taken from you by others; or in the body, when one can but
submit to the white hospital world; or in the nerves. -- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Let’s take one nerve, just one axon fiber
bundle -- invisible cable from brain
to heart -- one pathway of passionate fire
no doctor can see. I walk in night rain
to douse the flame. It won’t work. I still burn,
blaze morphing raindrops to steam. Scorching pain
searing my eyes, my skin. My god! I yearn
for you once more: compulsion yet again
to form poems in your image. One nerve
from brain to heart to hands on my keyboard
recalling your fire eyes and luscious curve
of your mouth. I ask, “Muse, can I afford
this trial again?” She smiles. “You deserve
this,” she whispers. I type, “Let’s take one nerve…”
Roger Armbrust
March 8, 2016
