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In the Middle of the Rest of the World
Robert Okaji

In sleep you smile, and I wonder
if I could enter that place,
which bells would peal in early
morning or noon, what clouds
would gather to share their
cooling shade, whose fingers
might glide down your flank,
and then I recall how we drove
for days through the flatlands,
following thunderheads that
remained out of reach no matter
how fast we drove, how long
we gazed, drawn toward
an untried bed and space to be
filled with glorious silence
and song and pieces picked up
along the way, a new day ringing
in that city of conjunction in the
middle of the rest of the world.

—
Robert Okaji holds a BA in history, served without distinction in the U.S. Navy, toiled as a university administrator, and no longer owns a bookstore. His honors include the 2022 Slipstream Press Annual Chapbook Prize, the 2021 riverSedge Poetry Prize, the 2021 Etchings Press Poetry Chapbook Prize, and 1968 Bar-K Goat-Catching Championship. He lives in Indiana with his wife, stepson, and cat, and his poetry has appeared in Threepenny Review, Crannóg, Vox Populi, Evergreen Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Tipton Poetry Journal, The Night Heron Barks, Indianapolis Review, and other venues.

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