National Poetry Month: Franklin Abbott

Koan

(Franklin Abbott)

my face
before my birth
was half
my father's face
looking
back into
eternity

the half-him
that was me
fought countless wars
loved myriad women
sired a thousand sons
a thousand daughters

I am the end of all that
I am fruit ripening
with no seed to plant
no progeny to offer
a crowded world
my gift is who I am
outside of history
facing time dissolving
in an ever present moment
with gentle men
whose loving
knows no purpose
but to kindle
in our hearts
the quiet light
of peace

FRANKLIN ABBOTT is an Atlanta psychotherapist in private practice and has written poetry since his college days at Mercer University. He will be appearing tomorrow night at the Poets Falling in Love With Poetry event at Bound To Be Read Books in Atlanta. A collection of his poetry, Mortal Love, was published in 1999 by RFD Press. He has also edited a number of anthologies on gender, the latest of which is Boyhood: Growing Up Male. His most recent collection, Pink Zinnia: Poems and Stories, is published by Author-House. His website is The Ninth Muse.