1 Poem by Paul Sohar

UNMAPPED DIRECTIONS

Yes, of course, there was a map
only a few fickle years ago,
sprawling flat in front of me,
full of blue snakes sucking on the seas
and spider-cities clinging to each other
by their wire legs...

Every night I used to kneel
in front of the unfolded sheet,
reciting all the places where I
was yet to get someday,
calculating miles and years and costs;
night after night.

But crumpled hangs the map now
from my blind fingertips,
at the frayed folds its roads are severed,
coffee stains flood its mountains;
I don’t consult it any more but can’t
toss it in the waste basket yet.
If a gust of wind runs off with it,
I’ll let it go.


Bionote

Paul Sohar ended his higher education with a BA in philosophy and took a day job in a research lab while writing in every genre, publishing thirteen volumes of translations, including "Silver Pirouettes" (TheWriteDeal 2012) and “In Contemporary Tense” (Iniquity Press, 2013). His own poetry: “Homing Poems” (Iniquity, 2006) and “The Wayward Orchard”, a Wordrunner Prize winner (2011). Other awards: first prize in the 2012 Lincoln Poets Society Contest, second prize in RI Writers Circle 2014 Contest. Prose work: “True Tales of a Fictitious Spy” (Synergebooks, 2006) and a collection of three plays from One Act Depot (Canada, 2015). Magazine credits: Agni, Gargoyle, Kenyon Review, Rattle, Poetry Salzburg Review, Seneca Review, etc. Theater experience: “G-d Is Something Gorgeous”, musical (Scranton 2007) wrote the lyrics and collaborated on the book.