nijinsky
TRANSCRIPT
NijinskyAuthor(s): Michael McGuireSource: The Iowa Review, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Winter, 1978), pp. 39-40Published by: University of IowaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20158863 .
Accessed: 14/06/2014 11:54
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
University of Iowa is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Iowa Review.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 11:54:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Nijinsky Michael McGuire
It is contagious like applause, or the harmless, simple germs that make the rounds at Christmastime
when everyone is familiar and we
shake hands and kiss each other
on both cheeks.
I am embarrassed by the bodies
of boys in tight pants.
They are secretly exploding like the bellies of the poor, or like me,
wanting to touch everything with
my thighs. But not so secretly either, since the only lie
is cloth, and look how easily we can slip through its wavering bars.
I am embarrassed by the faces
of men?now winter's coming on?
that grow shaggy like a dog's.
They will be warm. I could give them
the sack full of my broken bones.
It would be safe there. And so I am
embarrassed more by the woman
whose hips are so big she blocks the sidewalk. If she would
move to one side, there'd be room for all of us.
There is room for all of us
inside her.
When we pass by her we are
passing through her. I am
embarrassed to love her
so much.
(You see
there is a clown on a streetcorner
up ahead
inside me.
He is passing out
strips of his flesh to the poor
39
This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 11:54:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
as though casting a play or bestowing the gift of song on the first mouths. He thinks
this is a beautiful act.
It is a beautiful act.)
40
This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 11:54:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions