FISHING FOR DYNAMITE by David Steingass (audio clip)

SWEATING

Snow shoveling, wood splitting,

dirt digging magical sweat

the body dives into. Falling-in-love,

pit-of-the-stomach sweat. Greasy sweat

hoping to live through hangovers

from hell. Cold sweat. Rank nightmare sweat.

The various clinging sweats of guilt

and fear. Indecision's sticky where-now

sweat, and the sweat from memory-of-life-

changing mistakes. Grapes-clumped-on-the-brow-

close-to-death sweat. Tropical oilslick robe

stringing the backbones' astonishing pearls--

dripping like men

gleaming like women

glistening continuously new.

from Fishing for Dynamite (2003, revised second edition; 64 pages)