Whose Body

'Whose Body abounds with questions,' writes Donald Levering. 'The title implies the question, Whose body is this that I occupy, whose body is this that feels love or pleasure or suffers so self-importantly? The infant heard sobbing next door or the tortured political prisoner, are their bodies also not mine? Another side of the question is, who is this 'I' that occupies a certain body at a certain time? Does it maintain an identify apart from the body it inhabits, this body with its specific scars, warm places, habits, and infirmities? Instead of supplying answers, I hope that the poems give flesh and body to the enigmas. As I was writing, I imagined a strict Zen Master looking over my shoulder ready to whap this body with a stick if a poem started to fall asleep.'