The Body Reclining -- Grace Nichols

Guest poem submitted by Devyani Saltzman:

(Poem #1045) The Body Reclining I sing the body reclining I sing the throwing back of self I sing the cushioned head The fallen arm The lolling breast I sing the body reclining As an indolent continent I sing the body reclining I sing the easy breathing ribs I sing the horizontal neck I sing the slow-moving blood Sluggish as a river In its lower course I sing the weighing thighs The idle toes The liming knees I sing the body reclining As a wayward tree I sing the restful nerve Those who scrub and scrub incessantly corrupt the body Those who dust and dust incessantly also corrupt the body And are caught in the asylum Of their own making Therefore I sing the body reclining -- Grace Nichols

"liming": West Indian expression for standing around, idling away the time.

What can I say... I was sitting in the library all day reading evolutionary
biology when I picked an anthology of Grace Nichols' poetry off the shelf.
She's a poet and writer from Guyana and has the most lovely flowing style.
All I can say is this poem is my new motto.

Devyani.