| r.kv.r.y. quarterly winter 2008 poetry by bart galle |
Walking by the Aikido Center
Late at Night
I stop to watch two students
vacuuming the mat.
From opposite ends
they go side to side,
working toward the center.
The vacuum cleaners
are chrome with red bags,
everything else is white.
I catch my bus before
they finish. As the stops go by
I think about the students
meeting in the middle.
I picture a kind of minuet
with cords held high,
cleaners tilted on their heels,
right-hand turns, left-hand turns,
palms together, eye-to-eye,
deep into the night.
Late at Night
I stop to watch two students
vacuuming the mat.
From opposite ends
they go side to side,
working toward the center.
The vacuum cleaners
are chrome with red bags,
everything else is white.
I catch my bus before
they finish. As the stops go by
I think about the students
meeting in the middle.
I picture a kind of minuet
with cords held high,
cleaners tilted on their heels,
right-hand turns, left-hand turns,
palms together, eye-to-eye,
deep into the night.
Artwork byTamar Factor