Cycling
the Void
Rich
Furman
Tan
weeds I never knew,
and drivers equally foreign,
wave as I more amble then fly,
lacerate gravel-sand roads.
Cornfields
silos
fade into deep alone,
the Alone the sting-burn
of hamstring thighs.
Back
at friend’s farmhouse cool
strip down lounge in sweat salt,
phone message blares from kitchen
it's Dave from Funk’s Machine Shop,
your
shaft is now fixed.
Clear, many have forgotten,
more than I ever will know.
***
Rich
Furman,
PhD, is an associate professor of social work at the University
of North Carolina Charlotte. His poetry has been published in
Hawai’i Review, The Evergreen Review, Black
Bear Review, Red Rock Review, Sierra Nevada Review,
Penn Review, Free Lunch, Colere, Pearl,
The Journal of Poetry Therapy, Impetus, Poetry
Motel and many others. He has performed his work throughout
the United States, as well as in Nicaragua, Mexico, and Guatemala.
His work has been described as “neither street nor beat nor
meat nor academic, but an emotionally evocative mix of styles
that can be brutally imagistic or powerfully terse.” His
scholarly writing is concerned with social work ethics, international
social work, friendship, qualitative methods, social work practice,
and the uses of poetry in social work and research. He has published
a workbook on group practice and over fifty academic articles.
He currently coordinates the social work undergraduate program.
He is working on a 203 bowling average, enjoys mountain biking,
and single malt scotch. Mostly he just likes to live as fully
as possible and mess with the poem. Snorting Dog Press published
two of his chapbooks, of only average intent, 2002 and
Gleaming and Faded, 2003. He also has an e-book on the
Internet Poet’s Cooperative website. Legitimate Press recently
released a CD of his and James L. Smith’s poetry. He is currently
seeking a publisher for three full length manuscripts.
©
Rich Furman