Steven Minchin has studied at The Museum of Modern Art. He has published more than 65 poems in Mad Swirl, Right Hand Pointing, Crack the Spin, Short, Fast and Deadly, and numerous other publications. You can follow him on Facebook. Steven’s most recent poem to appear here was Deaf People Say Huh (September 2014).

 … Ready, Embrace
By Steven Minchin

Embrace this alarm in my limbs,
Warning to stiffen up
at the sight of your frozen hands,
and overbearing sweater,
bracing, and rapidly approaching,
closing in on the space all around me,
taking in the air all around me

Ready

Find a rigidity at the ready
to engulf and cease the advance,
to wrap it within me,
bracing, and unyielding,
closing down on a trembling
that’s tightening around the outside,
slowly closing in around the outside

Standing ready …