Lee Balan

Ars Umbilicalis Poetica
(The Art of the Connection to the Poem)

A folded napkin could be blamed
          When an accidental tug on the napkin’s edge
              Caused a wine glass to tip and spill
This small misdeed
          Led to snark remarks about stumblebums
          Incriminations
             And revelations about indiscrete behavior
          Someone yelled “fire”
              Which fed a full scale panic

Cosmologists tell us
          Space is folded like the napkin
              Within each fold there is more space
Each fold could be a new dimension
          An alternate universe
              Where there is another version of Earth
              Of you     Of me
                  Acting upon different decisions
                  Leading in new directions

Here I am
          In the emergency room
              With an IV in my arm
              Feeling nauseous
There I am
          Writing a prologue to a poem about accidents
I could be dead somewhere else
          Yet still be alive

Folded napkin     Folded space
          A small misdeed could lead to catastrophe

Lee Balan was the first editor and art director for Beyond Baroque Magazine in Venice, CA.  His poems and stories have been featured in several magazines including Phantom Seed, Sun-Runner, and Storylandia.  He was the facilitator for the Tenderloin Writer’s Workshop in San Francisco. His background in mental health has been a major influence on his work.  Lee has been the featured poet at several events and venues including the Palm Springs Art Museum.  Recently, Lee self published his first novel Alien Journal.
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