Free Thinker: The Road to India
by Mary Sexson
You never blinked an eye when
you stepped off the plane in that
ancient city eight thousand
miles from everything you knew.
You got in a cab with strangers
and let them take you to some
dilapidated hotel, overcharge you
for a dirty room, and drop you off
at the train station the next
morning, your wallet a little
lighter, but the stink of tourist
wiped off of you forever.
The train took four days to cross
that heave of land, and you to find
your way to a quieter place
where no one would ever know
who you were, and cell phones
didn’t work. You walked in
on your own two feet, hungry,
and looking for the light.
by Mary Sexson
You never blinked an eye when
you stepped off the plane in that
ancient city eight thousand
miles from everything you knew.
You got in a cab with strangers
and let them take you to some
dilapidated hotel, overcharge you
for a dirty room, and drop you off
at the train station the next
morning, your wallet a little
lighter, but the stink of tourist
wiped off of you forever.
The train took four days to cross
that heave of land, and you to find
your way to a quieter place
where no one would ever know
who you were, and cell phones
didn’t work. You walked in
on your own two feet, hungry,
and looking for the light.
The Continents Between Usby Mary Sexson
You have sent me your songs,
You have sent me your songs,
in zip files
that I downloadlate at
night, listening intently, trying to
discern your voice,
your style
of guitar or drum work.
I sometimes
scan the online videos
where I know
I will see you
playing your
instruments,
smiling at
the beauty
of what you
have made. I listen
to the words
in Tamil, the lilt
and beauty
of them, the
foreignness
of them, the way
you seem ten
thousand
miles away
and more, yet
the
continents between us can
be spanned
with this, a wave
of bliss
comes into my sunroom
on a patch
of moonlight, and I hear
the pitch of
voice evoke you,
basking in the next
day’s sun.Bio: Mary Sexson is the author of the book 103 in the Light, Selected Poems 1996-2000 (Restoration Press, 2004), nominated for a Best Books of Indiana award in 2005. She is the co-author of Company of Women, New and Selected Poems (Chatter House Press, 2013) with Jayne Marek and Lylanne Musselman. Her poems have appeared in various literary publications, and her newer work is included in several anthologies, including The Globetrotter’s Companion (Lion Lounge Press, London, 2011), A Few Good Words (Cincinnati Writer’s Project 2013), and the online site, New Verse News (2013). She has forthcoming work in the Reckless Writing Anthology (Chatter House Press).