The Wrist

By KOLBUS MOOLMAN

 

from the poem cycle Anatomy

 

The wrist, the right one,
is a wrench.

The wrist, not the left, is rust.

It is red metal amongst stone.
It is brittle tin. It is clanking iron.

The wrist is unsettled.
It does not join or turn or fold or meet.

It grinds, stone against stone, mid-day
sunlight against old iron.
Cold night against cold stars.

It is a sharp moon. A blunt moon.
Made blunt on the blade of a hill.

The wrist, my wrist, my right,
is all that holds me up.

Keeps me perpendicular
to the black grave.

 

 

Kobus Moolman is an award-winning South African poet and playwright. He teaches creative writing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban.

Click here to purchase Issue 04

From the beginning, The Common has brought you transportive writing and exciting new voices. We are committed to supporting writers and maintaining free, unrestricted access to our website, but we can’t do it without you. Become an integral part of our global community of readers and writers by donating today. No amount is too small. Thank you!

The Wrist

Related Posts

Map

By MARIN SORESCU trans. DANIEL CARDEN NEMO
If I see the ocean / I think that’s where / my soul should be, / otherwise the sheet of its marble / would make no waves.

A sculpture bunny leaning against a book

Three Poems by Mary Angelino

MARY ANGELINO
The woman comes back each week / to look at me, to look / at regret—that motor stuck in the living / room wall, ropes tied / to each object, spooling everything in. She / comes back to watch / what leaving does. Today, her portrait / splinters—last month, it was only / askew

Aleksandar Hemon and Stefan Bindley-Taylor's headshot

January Poetry Feature #2: Words and Music(ians)

STEFAN BINDLEY-TAYLOR
I am sure I will never get a name for the thing, the memory of which still sits at a peculiar tilt in my chest, in a way that feels different than when I think of my birthday, or my father coming home. It is the feeling that reminds you that there is unconditional love in the world, and it is all yours if you want.