Mathias Svalina

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Mathias Svalina Biography

Mathias Svalina (born June 24, 1975), is an American poet. He has won fellowships and awards from The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, The Iowa Review, and New Michigan Press. His poems have been published in journals such as American Letters & Commentary, The Boston Review, Gulf Coast, and jubilat. He also co-edits Octopus Magazine and Octopus Books with Zachary Schomburg. He is a native of Chicago, Illinois. Svalina received his B.A. from the University of Mary Washington, an M.F.A. from the Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As of 2012, he lives and teaches literature in Denver, Colorado. Svalina has taught writing at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.)

The Best Poem Of Mathias Svalina

Creation Myth

In the beginning everyone looked like Larry Bird
but everyone did not have the name Larry Bird
& this was confusing. Everyone had a headache
& walked around with furrowed brows. Headaches
hadn't been invented & when people described the pain
they said an angry Larry Bird stands on my neck
& my head is Larry Bird after missing a layup.
Even the babies were the size & shape of Larry Bird.
Since everyone looked like Larry Bird they avoided
extravagant events. All the clubs shut down, no one
could watch a Larry Bird dance without understanding
that they danced like this, pursed lips, flagellum legs,
arms like wild fire hoses. The real Larry Bird retired
to his basement. He wore magnifying goggles
& built watches of smaller & smaller dimension.
He built watches so small that he needed a microscope
to affix the springs & levers in the right places.
He built watches so small that he called them cells.
He built watches so small that he called them atoms.

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