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Recorded Reading (0:56): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pbsgty3160p9rbzqylr05/qualifiers.wav?rlkey=6gtwg3psou7m6lx7a7ykpxy6o&dl=0

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qualifiers

among mountaineers
they ask one another
of a newcomer
“how does he walk?”

among cooks it is
“how fast
can he cut
up a tomato?”

with housekeepers
the glance asks
“how regularly matched are
the corners of her folded laundry?”

workmen will want
to know how well he
lifts up this load right
here

librarians will
quote byron to get
a reaction or lack
thereof

members of any
marginalized demographic
will flash the current hand symbol
or run by him a little patois

and mystics
ask themselves
“how long
can she sit?”

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This poet is physically disabled. Public housing being insufficient to her medical and creative needs, she is presently living, in order to continue working, in her minivan, publishing all of her works using one thumb on the touch screen of her smartphone, surviving at an income of a fraction of her nation’s poverty level. She would treasure any donation you might care to offer ~ http://www.UgiftABLE.com ● #72D-31S.

Please be aware that it takes several days for the poet to be notified of contributions. International patrons please contact the poet via email or post a comment for the necessary numbers.

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