POET-IN-RESIDENCE, 1.10: Eleni Sikelianos

From the Flatmancrooked Winter 09/10 Poet-In-Residence, Eleni Sikelianos, comes selected poems, chosen by the poet from her body of work. These posts will appear every Sunday for the next ten weeks, after which a new Poet-In-Residence will be introduced and his or her work featured. This number 10 of 10. The poems featured in previous weeks can be found here: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3,Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9

I Too Want to Sleep in America Tonight

I am full of nostalgia tonight
like a sootbag filled with rocks
my hometown’s shining behind me
in the avocados’ glistening skins
The lemon’s electricity socks

my leg is starting to break
but my feet are not breaking
so I can walk

but my stomach is starting to break
around my mouth
says it’s nighttime
where I forget my teeth
& my teeth-shine

my ankle is breaking but my thumb is not
breaking
around my thought

bone particles hover inside the wrist
like a luminous halo of feeling the flesh once hid