Forrest Robinson

The Western Illinois Folio / Forrest Robinson

Forrest Robinson is Professor of English at Western Illinois University. He has published widely and has directed several poetry workshops. He has recently published a chap book titled "The Champaign Letters and Other Poems. " He is the editor of the Mississippi Valley Review.

IF I TOLD A SINGLE SOUL

your universe touched my elbow,
as we ate a picnic lunch near Keokuk-

if I said the sky parted overhead
and the Mississippi lapping at our feet
rose up through our eyes and spread us
out in the wings of an eagle, the great
bird singing arias of our dreaming-

I would have to explain how a universe touches.
In fact, I would have to explain my elbow.

-Forrest Robinson