"Time Takes As It Takes" by Edward Lee
Jenny Isaacs | Analepsis (That Reminds Me)
Time, as it were, thickens, takes on flesh, becomes artistically visible;
likewise, space becomes charged and responsive to the movements of
time, plot and history. This intersection of axes and fusion of indicators
characterizes the artistic chronotope.
-- Mikhail Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination
Rain in July, the seducing
chronotope once again
letting you in, opening,
giving in, giving up
here it comes
rain smearing the road
the baby doesn't wake
when she flings out an arm
My shiver goes down to my hips
I'm watching the road, falling in love
with the word for flashback
wondering what reminds you
Hands you said once
in real life
work hard
they need attention
your thumbs rolled and pressed
my palms, which remember.
My fingers uncurl, curl
around the steering wheel
hair remembering your hands in it
cheek remembering your unshaven jaw against it
ear remembering your voice muttering
deep in it
You've muscled in while the baby sleeps
and wipers fret
and slow cars nearly nuzzle each other
on the slick freeway
likewise, space becomes charged and responsive to the movements of
time, plot and history. This intersection of axes and fusion of indicators
characterizes the artistic chronotope.
-- Mikhail Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination
Rain in July, the seducing
chronotope once again
letting you in, opening,
giving in, giving up
here it comes
rain smearing the road
the baby doesn't wake
when she flings out an arm
My shiver goes down to my hips
I'm watching the road, falling in love
with the word for flashback
wondering what reminds you
Hands you said once
in real life
work hard
they need attention
your thumbs rolled and pressed
my palms, which remember.
My fingers uncurl, curl
around the steering wheel
hair remembering your hands in it
cheek remembering your unshaven jaw against it
ear remembering your voice muttering
deep in it
You've muscled in while the baby sleeps
and wipers fret
and slow cars nearly nuzzle each other
on the slick freeway
Jenny Isaacs graduated a long time ago from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in poetry. She ended up marrying the first person she spoke to on campus and now lives with him on the banks of a creek off the Chesapeake Bay, just 4 doors down from her parents. Her poems, which are mostly about sex and science, have appeared in Painted Bride Quarterly, Mad Poets' Review, US 1 Worksheets, and Pedestal and are forthcoming in Bulb Culture Collective and Thimble Literary Magazine.
Edward Lee is an artist and photographer from Ireland. His paintings and photography have been exhibited and published widely, with many pieces in private collections. His website can be found at https://lastimagesphotography.com
Instagram: @edwardleeart
Instagram: @edwardleeart
