A n n e W a l d m a n : K e e p i n g T h e W o r l d S a f e F o r P o e t r y

N a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 5 : S p e c i a l E d i t i o n

NINA ZIVANCEVIC

A Poem for Anne Waldman

It was so strange to see your face

on the Metropolitan Museum wall

it went under the title "Face of a poet", signed Alex Katz

and the year is 1972. Your face had nothing to do

with that museum wall

but something there in your painted eyes made me

take a good look at  myself later

reflected in the mirror of the museum's toilet,

i saw my own eyes reflected in it and my mouth

opening up to speak fast

to the mirror

it was then that i figured out: i'd better write

all of this down,

so that i can escape the mirror, escape the museum wall,

escape the museum installation of this poem of mine

for you

[From The Art of Catching a Boomerang, by Nina Zivancevic. Povelja, Serbia, 2013. Used by permission of the author.]