Kathabella is a huge presence in the San Gabriel Valley poetry scene—and beyond. She reads with a unique voice and dresses in a distinctive way and is the only poet around to always perform to the accompaniment of a flute-player, her husband Rick Wilson. She is a master of the haiku form and haiku-like poetry. In a few short lines she conveys a great deal, and much is suggested but left unsaid. Other than that, it’s hard to describe her work; it must be experienced. I’ll just say that she can turn the seemingly simple into the extraordinary—and it’s all done with a haunting flute melody in the background. Or maybe not in the background: maybe these two forces joining together, the spoken word and the wind-instrument, are as inseparable the sun and the blue sky, or the bee and the flower. We are lucky to have this duo with us today.
Flight
from Yazd
the heart
has no name
no address
it only pretends
to be in
the body
it hides there
in the chest
curled up like a fetus
not knowing
how big
it can get
the heart
is always
ready to escape
it is not
man or woman
animal or bird
the heart
is always
waiting
tapping its foot
in the queue
from beginning to end
always
taking off or landing
applauding the pilot
the heart
has no name
no address
it only pretends
to be in
the body
it hides there
in the chest
curled up like a fetus
not knowing
how big
it can get
the heart
is always
ready to escape
it is not
man or woman
animal or bird
the heart
is always
waiting
tapping its foot
in the queue
from beginning to end
always
taking off or landing
applauding the pilot
© 2012
Kathabella Wilson
Kathabella Wilson was a Featured Poet who read her poetry at the July 2012 Second Sunday Poetry Series
Kathabella Wilson was a Featured Poet who read her poetry at the July 2012 Second Sunday Poetry Series