ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>Poetry</title> <link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> </head> <body> <div id="wrap"> <div id="header"> <h1 id="sitename"><a href="#">Katerina Stoykova-Klemer</a></h1> <h2>Poetry</h2> </div> <div id="page"> <div id="menu"> <div id="sidemenu"> <h2>Menu</h2> <ul> <li><a href="index.html">Home</a> </li> <li><a href="books.html">Books</a></li> <li class="active"><a href="poetry.html">Poetry</a></li> <li><a href="prose.html">Prose</a></li> <li><a href="poezia.html">Writing Groups</a></li> <li><a href="radio.html">Radio Show</a></li> <li><a href="services.html">Services</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.accents-publishing.com">Accents Publishing</a></li> <li><a href="links.html">Events and Links</a></li> <li><a href="mailto:katerina.klemer@gmail.com">Contact</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="content"> <h2>Reluctance<span class="seo">Published in <i>The Louisville Review</i> Fall 2008 Vol. 64</span></h2> The Spare Tire<br> Is constantly afraid<br> That one day<br> It will be his turn<br> To start carrying the weight<br> Of the car<br> In which<br> He has been riding<br> &nbsp;<br> Once<br> A while back<br> He whispered his fears<br> To the windshield wipers<br> But in silent judgment<br> They just shook their heads<br> &nbsp;<br> And so<br> He cowers<br> Under the cover<br> Lays low in the dark<br> And on rainy days<br> He keeps<br> Particularly<br> Quiet<br> &nbsp;<br> Often<br> The Spare Tire<br> Counts his blessings<br> One Two Three Four<br> One Two Three Four<br> &nbsp;<br> Admits that<br> Actually<br> If it were not<br> For the constant fear<br> Being a spare<br> Is not at all a bad job<br> &nbsp;<br> True<br> A little unexciting<br> But being a regular tire<br> In daily use<br> Seems really<br> Terrifying<br> &nbsp;<br> Already<br> Deep furrows of worry<br> Zigzag and wrap<br> His forehead<br> Round<br> And round<br> &nbsp;<br> Desperate<br> He reads all library books<br> He finds<br> Forgotten in the trunk<br> Listens to any backseat gossip<br> Of erudite passengers<br> And radio talks<br> With famed psychiatrists<br> To try to grasp<br> Where his reluctance<br> Comes from<br> &nbsp;<br> Believe me<br> He is deeply ashamed<br> And feels unworthy<br> Compared to the wheels<br> Propelling progress<br> Pulling heavy loads<br> Rolling their radial faces<br> Over highways<br> And dirt<br> Roads<br> &nbsp;<br> How<br> He envies<br> The way they carry<br> Themselves<br> How<br> He wishes<br> He were like they  <br> So confident<br> And groovy<br> &nbsp;<br> <p> <h2>The First Time I Tried to Leave Home<span class="seo">Published on <i>Anderbo</i> February 2008</span></h2> Please read <a href="http://www.anderbo.com/anderbo1/apoetry-027.html">this poem</a> at Anderbo. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> </p> <p> <h2>The Most<span class="seo">Published on <i>Best Poem</i> June 2008</span></h2> Please read <a href="http://bestpoem.wordpress.com/category/katerina-stoykova-klemer/">this poem</a> at Best Poem. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> </p> <p> <h2>My Boyfriend Reports to the Induction Center<span class="seo">Published in <i>Free Inquiry</i> October/November 2008 Vol. 28 No. 6</span></h2> His mother, his father<br> His sister and I<br> Took him to the garrison<br> &nbsp;<br> His head was shaved<br> His face was pale<br> His heart was fast<br> &nbsp;<br> Men with epaulets<br> Took all boys away<br> And said that if we wait a bit<br> We will see them again<br> In their uniforms<br> &nbsp;<br> I waited standing by the door<br> Then sitting on the floor<br> Then over there on the bench<br> Then by the bus<br> &nbsp;<br> His sister left<br> To do her work<br> And I left<br> After her<br> &nbsp;<br> My hair was long<br> My face was wet<br> My heart was bone<br> &nbsp;<br> Still standing by the door<br> His mother and his father<br> Waved goodbye to me<br> </p> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="browse"> <h2 class="subhead"></h2> <div class="clear"></div> </div> </div> <div id="footer"> <div id="footercontent"> <p>katerinaklemer.com &copy; all rights reserved</p> <p id="credit"><a href="http://ramblingsoul.com">CSS Template</a> by Ramblingsoul</p> </div> </div> </div> <!-- Start of StatCounter Code --> <script type="text/javascript"> var sc_project=4459178; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_partition=55; var sc_click_stat=1; var sc_security="cb9289aa"; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.statcounter.com/counter/counter.js"></script><noscript><div class="statcounter"><a title="drupal statistics" href="http://www.statcounter.com/drupal/" target="_blank"><img class="statcounter" src="http://c.statcounter.com/4459178/0/cb9289aa/1/" alt="drupal statistics" ></a></div></noscript> <!-- End of StatCounter Code --> </body> </html>