1 Poem by James B. Nicola

In the Beginning, or, Making a Point

In the beginning was the line
The point and then the line
The nothingness and then the point and line

And then someone imagining the line
Who put words on the line
To make a point
And then in a capricious moment
Blinked or sneezed or chuckled if not wept
So that the line
Somewhere, some time, somehow
Swerved

Into the spiral that becomes a cornucopia,
Gives rise to us, and grows. And as a line
Goes on forever in both directions, we
Imagine how the spiral does the same

And so a word
And then another word
To make a point
A line
A spiral
Growing out to everything
Till everything
Dissolves to nothingness
And the beginning
Of a point
A line
The word


Bionote

James B. Nicola’s poetry and prose have appeared in Poetry Pacific; the Antioch, Southwest, Green Mountains, and Atlanta Reviews; Rattle; Barrow Street; Tar River; and Poetry East, garnering two Willow Review awards, a Dana Literary award, and six Pushcart nominations. His full-length collections are Manhattan Plaza (2014), Stage to Page (2016), Wind in the Cave (2017), Out of Nothing: Poems of Art and Artists (2018) and Quickening: Poems from Before and Beyond (2019). His nonfiction book Playing the Audience won a Choice award. He is facilitator for the Hell's Kitchen International Writers' Roundtable, which meets twice monthly at Manhattan's Columbus Library: walk-ins welcome!