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TWO WAYS TO FALL ASLEEP WRITING
My way: Gradually.
The letters get less and less vertical
more and more horizontal
until, like a stopped heart
they're not there at all.
But there's also my student's way: Suddenly.
She's still vertical, so are her pen and her letters.
It's all vertical but stopped.
Her pen meets the page in a single point.
AM I SURE?
Am I sure I brushed my teeth last night?
sure they won't run away?
sure my toes will separate only from one another
and not from my feet?
Am I sure there's enough air in the room?
sure there's enough space in the room?
Oh, I'm sure the Law of Averages
works at least for that.
Marion Deutsche Cohen is the author of seventeen books, including her newest, "Crossing the Equal Sign" (Plain View Press, TX) and preceding it, "Dirty Details: The Days and Nights of a Well Spouse" (Temple University Press, PA). She has taught math at Philadelphia-area colleges, and currently teaches at Arcadia University. (December 2007)
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