Tom Savage has published six other books of poems including Political Conditions Physical States (United Artists Books 1993), Processed Words (Coffeehouse Press, 1990) and Housing, Preservation & Development (Cheap Review Press 1988). His book of poems written in Afghanistan in 1970 called From Herat To Balkh and Back Again is forthcoming from O.L.A.A.T. Press. For nine years he was the editor of Tamarind magazine and contributed to it monthly. In the late 1980s he edited Gandhabba magazine and taught a workshop for poets and composers at the Poetry Project in New York. Currently he teaches a poetry workshop for senior citizens at Encore Community Services Center/ The Actor's Chapel/ St. Malachy’s Church, New York.
Excerpt from Brain Lifts:
Awake, Dear Pigeon
Unwarp your soul at the temple of my love,
My model crime is to breathe in harmony with you.
My distinguished botanist, the maidenhair tree,
Feeds me mimosas with gingko biloba from the clouds.
When we exchanged readings of each other's minds,
This moustache in drag refused to be an undercover satyr any longer.
Don't let the assassin of my fears get away again.
Let something tell you me, anything you choose.
Its story wishes to be disturbed by your heartbeat.
So feed your mental victor to some carnivorous plants,
I apologize for leaving myself alone so many years.
We were waiting for each other to arrive
At the cathode ray tube cathedral where our shadows merge.
I confess to the "sin" of self-knowledge.
But now I wish to know you better than my own atoms.
My body is here and awaits yyou.
My mind is already merged into "ours."
Di I need an identity card around my neck
To show you the picture of my love?
It's time to see my future body in your dreams.
Don't leave me until the insomnia of eternal bliss consumes us.
