Derriere la Gare Saint-Lazarus, by Karen Head

Derriere la Gare de Saint-Lazarus, by Henri Cartier-Bresson (France). 1932.

Derrière la Gare de Saint-Lazare
 
It is the just before
of the moment
that captures
us and the man
suspended inches above
the unavoidable water--
too soon to know
if the impact will produce
only childlike splash
or soaked frustration before
a long train ride to Cherbourg,
his shadow still
a perfect reflection
the impending ripples
we know will reach
the edges of experience.

Karen Head

Karen Head is the author of four books of poetry (Sassing, My Paris Year, Shadow Boxes and On Occasion: Four Poets, One Year), has co-edited the poetry anthology (Teaching as a Human Experience: An Anthology of Poetry), and has exhibited several acclaimed digital poetry projects. In 2010, she won the Oxford International Women’s Festival Poetry Prize. She also creates digital poetry; her project “Monumental” (part of Antony Gormley’s One and Other Project) was detailed in a TIME online mini-documentary. She is an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech, and is the Editor of Atlanta Review.