Ode To Feet
I have seen poetic feet so perfect,
The very smallest units
Of patterned stress,
Soft idioms of Iambic
And drum beats of Anapestic,
That march across the carpet
In measured meter toward full-length mirrors.
I am the bard of bare soles
And naked ankles,
Of fallen arches and
Swollen heels,
Of toenails
Pedicured and painted,
That catch the light
Like so many cut sapphires,
All arranged
In descending order of size.
I have crafted couplets in Trochaic,
And started the heartbeat of lines in Spondaic,
For I am the poet of feet,
Perfect and imperfect,
Poetic
And otherwise,
Of bunions, bumps and bent toes,
Carried within or laid upon
A pump, mule, sandal or thong.
A Wedding Wish For Stacey
I remember
There was a time once
In the smallness of new beginnings
Where every heartbeat brought new wonder
And each day uncomplicated joy
I wish these gifts of childhood to you
Just as I feel them now
As I see you flower like and
Wrapped in white blossoms
And in my chest this instant
Coursing through a cloverleaf
Of arteries and the figure eights
That blood vessels make
Intertwining and wrapping their way
About my heart like snakes on a caduceus
Is the sure and certain knowledge that only the
Pure certainty of love in us
Is undying and eternal
So it will be this moment
Here in this church
That will stay with us forever and you will
Hear me whispering for a lifetime
My lips endlessly forming these words
Just above a Bach concerto playing
Sweetly in the background
And you will remember
The little bits of us
That never die
Doug Tanoury is primarily a poet of the Internet
with the majority of his work never leaving electronic form. His
verse can be read at electronic magazines and journals across the
world. Collections of poetry by Doug Tanoury can be found at Funky
Dog Publishing http://www.funkydogpublishing.com/
and Athens Avenue http://mywebpages.comcast.net/dtanoury1/Athens/index.htm
Doug grew up in Detroit, Michigan and still lives in the area.
Doug Tanoury credits his 7th grade poetry anthology from
Sister Debra's English class, Reflections On A Gift Of Watermelon Pickle
And Other Modern Verse, (Stephen Dunning, Edward Lueders and Hugh Smith,
(c)1966 by Scott Foresman & Company) as exerting the greatest influence
on his work. He still keeps a copy of it at his writing desk.
mailto:dtanoury@comcast.net
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