Why is my face doing things
behind . . .
(I almost said
my back! )
I glanced at my reflection
as I passed a window
and there I was
the corners of mouth down.
And I was enjoying myself
moving to a tune in my head
hardly aware of my breath.
Whether it’s gravitas
or gravity
that’s pulling me
pulling me down toward the earth,
nudge me, will you,
if you see me like that,
remind me to smile.
Rina Ferrarelli's The Bread We Ate, a collection of original poetry, was published in 2012 by Guernica. She has also published two other works of original poetry, Dreamsearch (malafemmina) and Home is Foreign Country (Eadmer), and two bilingual editions of translations, I Saw the Muses (Guernica), and Winter Fragments (Chelsea). She was awarded an NEA and the Italo Calvino Prize. Two of her poems, "The Young Immigrant Writes to a Friend Back Home" and "Mayflies" were Included in WRITTEN ON WATER, Writings about the Allegheny River (Mayapple Press, 2013).
