Arch of Hysteria, by Sharon Phillips

Arch of Hysteria, by Louise Bourgeois (USA, b. France), 1993.

Arch of Hysteria

The man who hangs
from the rooftree
is wrenched back
into an arc

his bronze skin 
glints where it 
catches the light

his fingertips might
touch his heels 
were it not 
for the spine's 
resistance

the thrum of his mind 
might rest
if he could arc
into a circle
if heels and fingertips
could meet.

​Sharon Phillips

Sharon is a retired college principal, who lives on the Isle of Portland, England. She spends her time cooking, reading and writing poems, some of which have been published or are forthcoming in Algebra of Owls, Ink Sweat and Tears, Picaroon and Three Drops from a Cauldron.