Timothy Liu: Professor of the Month
Every month Sid's Opened Lid tries to find an English professor who has some experience in the publishing world and provides our audience with something written by said professor. The content can range from previously published material to advice for new writers trying to get published and find the community that best fits them in the vast world of literature.
To start us off, in this particular issue we have a collection of 3 poems written by Timothy Liu : The Betrothal, The Drive-Thru and Translating Holderlin.
TIMOTHY LIU is the author of nine books of poems, including the forthcoming Don’t Go Back To Sleep. He has also been featured in a number of literary magazines including The Southampton Review and Typo Magazine. He lives in Manhattan with his husband. Read more at timothyliu.comuf.com
THE BETROTHAL
I am standing at the altar
ready to flee. Never
has fidelity been so easy
on a body that knows how to
pleasure itself. No wonder
marriages are duller than
grunts rising from the rear
of shag-carpeted mini vans.
No wonder your mouth runs
over me like a Mustang
through a thunder storm
27
with the top down, my hair
standing up on end, my tongue
doing push ups in my throat
as it tries to get in shape.
Forget about bands of gold
when there are holes enough
for every last finger. Chew me
to the new moons. Show me
stars only lovers can see
on the flats of their backs,
sirens in the distance
scraping against our ears
like a gravedigger's shovel
left on the steps of a church.