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Taliesin

by Amy Baskin


-“Tell everyone on this train that I love them.” - Taliesin
Namkai-Meche, Hollywood Transit Center, Green Line, Portland Oregon,
May 26, 2017.

In the seat next to you
sits a stranger,
shining brow, sweating

shirt stains evident
exhaustion palpable
like your own

for one moment, close
your eyes in trust
can you feel him

not his hands or
the side of his body
his heartsource

can you open
is your skin thin
enough

for his love
to permeate
you

could he be
your murderer? he may
have daggers within him

I have seen those who
have thrown away their souls
for nothing

could he be
your prophet? he may
be capable

I have seen those who
have given up their lives
and they are everything
 

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Amy Baskin's recent work has appeared in VoiceCatcher, Cirque, and Friends Journal. She is a 2018 and 2016 Willamette Writers Kay Snow Poetry honorable mention recipient. When she's not writing, she matches international students at Lewis & Clark College with local volunteers to help make them feel welcome and at home during their stay.