John Dorroh
Vector Analysis
While you were sleeping this afternoon, I drove in the opposite direction, becoming my own vector, denying analysis until I settle down sometime next week, month, year. Measure the lines carefully, lay it out with confidence, these straight-edges often lie. From ground zero in her hand, under her breath, to Eminent, Pennsylvania, eminent domain, taking things that don’t belong to her: my lips, my throat, the esophagus down to the muscle where the acid begins to bubble up, denying gravity its free will. You must have walked 1000 miles because, I swear, it took you forever. What did you see out there? my heart bathing in its diseased fluid, my sciatic nerve, agitated, inflamed, pushing its way back into the pelvis with anatomical gusto? We need to measure the lines when you return, line up our straight-edges and calculate angles, praying for congruence, clarity, and intentional unification.
About the writer:
Whether John Dorroh taught any secondary science is still being discussed. However, he managed to show up for a couple of decades at 6:45 with at least two lesson plans and a thermos of robust Colombian. His poetry has appeared in about 75 journals, including North Dakota Quarterly, Dime Show Review, Red Dirt Forum, and Selcouth Station. He also writes short fiction and the occasional rant.
Image: Pelagia and Philammon by Arthur Hacker (1858-1919). Oil on canvas. 44.4 x 72.5 inches. 1887. Public domain.
