I.
The rung wide
receiver forgets why

he set his keys on the football field.
Whose are they? he asks-a ringing

in his ear-while clenching
the green. As if on the edge

of a pool, he tilts his head to drain
water out of his canal.

It was like that, all the time,
after. How many fingers?

he was asked, and not to tell
a lie-it would mean his career.

It would mean recognizing you
without your jacket when you

walked out of the room. It would mean
you could say, Stay here

with me, and in his eyes
could watch him come back.



I spiral the parking lot, singing,
It's alright, I'm alright,

while I count the pole lights back
to my car. I practice red, table, lamp

with a neuropsychologist and now
I can tell you about how my brain

blew in the acceleration. I was in
a locked position-the details

unbearably clear in the replay and, still,
no one else heard me swallow

the impact. Bend at your hips
from your two-point stance and, there,

the muffler is a finger wagging
one one one inches from the ground.

The tire-less car rests on its crutch
of blocks, the windows a crunch

of glass. Are you feeling the rush now
as you look to me, your brain still

in your head-is it still in your head?
Can you point for me where

it happens in the connection, where
on the line the old equipment

resets itself and loops?
Is what you say the truth?



About this poem
"In December of 2008, I was rear-ended at a stoplight by a sedan that the police report estimated was going 50-70 mph, based on the resulting damage. My brain shook in its case, and though facets of my personality-particularly my sense of humor-remained intact, the following days, weeks and months were marred by aphasia, vertigo and anger, among other symptoms. To this day, what I find most remarkable about that experience is how I woke up one concussed morning and, without understanding what it meant, suddenly remembered that I was a poet."
-Janine Joseph

About Janine Joseph
Janine Joseph is the author of "Driving Without a License" (Alice James Books, 2016). She teaches at Weber State University and lives in Ogden, Utah.

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The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.


(c) 2016 Janine Joseph. Originally published by the Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate