Be Not Immune

by James Bertolino		print version
		print version (graphics)

It’s important that you know
I’m at my keyboard without
the protection of a desk helmet.

It’s a risk I’m willing to face
so my approach to the muse
does not appear defensive––

I will not cower forward with my brain
protected. I must expose myself,
allow my imagination its

essential vulnerability. Cadaver.
You see? Never would I have accepted
that word if my mind had been enclosed

by an antiseptic cap. I must feel
like a cadaver, but living, laid open
and beckoning infection.

This poem is infected, a gift from
my muse I share freely with you.

James Bertolino, Poet & Planetary Visionary

James Bertolino's poetry has been published in magazines, books, and anthologies internationally for almost 40 years, from "Drool" published in 1968 to his most recent, "Pocket Animals: 60 Poems" published in 2002 by Egress Studio Press. Check out his website to purchase his publications through Egress Studio Pressand for more information and free beautiful poetry greeting cards that you can copy & print directly from his website. Read other poems James has kindly allowed us to print at Satya Center in the James Bertolino Archive.


(Artwork Detail from "Soulmate Search" by Jane Sherry. To view this digital collage click here. Photo of James, courtesy of the poet. All poems reprinted here with the kind permission of James Bertolino.)