Growing City (1956), Eleanor Coen

Eulogies of Motion

To listen for home—

(in appearance at least)

the movement of capital

labor

footsteps or piano keys.

The rebellion of dying is movement

of wrens through the thirsting grass

regardless of border or season

silence hurried 

through the fact 

of people forever leaping

never touching the third rail,

calling out across the distance

with scarves and countries

and drains to unclog.

The rebellion of   movement—

to say I have seen this place before 

to praise the stolen bread

in a pigeon’s beak

to thank each needful wing.

And still

the fact of us

existing stubborn 

as ivy across untended stones—

the rebellion

to name it all home

despite the lateness

of the hour.

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This poem is written after Trevor Mathison’s soundscape, The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening. Italicized phrases are quoted from the piece and the voices it encompasses, including Stuart Hall and Selina Nwulu.

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ZACHARIAH CLAYPOLE WHITE is a Philadelphia-based writer and educator, originally from North Carolina. He holds a BA from Oberlin College and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, where he was a Jane Cooper Poetry Fellow. His poetry and prose have appeared in or are forthcoming from Bourbon Penn, The Baltimore Review, and The Rumpus, amongst others. Zachariah has received support from the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop and his awards include Flying South's 2021 Best in Category for poetry as well as nominations for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Zachariah teaches at the Community College of Philadelphia and the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College.

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