Ask The Author: Robert Rothman

In February, “Arrow” from Robert Rothman.

1. If you were Cupid, what projectile would you use?

Love is savage but an arrow with its expanding tip rips and ravages. I would use a dart that pricks interest, that causes the beloved to turn, startled and aroused by the sharp but not lethal hit of love/pain.

2. What kind of arrows would you have in your quiver?

Love, desire, rapture, adoration, kindness, raw and finished arrows.

3. Robin Hood or Green Arrow – who would win in an archery death match?

Not into death: these arrows bring life.

4. Where did “Arrow” come from?

I was an archer years past and into martial arts so weapons and transformation are close to my heart. Perhaps Zen and the Art of Archery stuck into me back then. And the twang of bow string, the graceful arc that arrows describe, the tension holding the bow, the single minded  pursuit or an arrow, the beauty of the desired, her face before me, her being the only bullseye I know, brought the poem out.

5. How does one staunch a wound?

With great difficulty and for a long time, with tears, with fortitude, with faith that this latest laceration with scar over in time.

6. Do you follow the arrow?

Yes! Yes ! Yes!