Beginning form
   
     Wide globe
        round arms           
           want latitude
   
         improbable regions
                      east’s sword dance
       
         you
     untranslatable
               into me
   
we’re a mouth
   
                   kiss the diameter
               make time      go long

Alice Jones, Extreme Directions, The 54 Moves of Tai Chi Sword

"This sequence of poems, evolved from the poet's observation of the daily practice of Tai Chi Sword, evoke the fluidity of martial art practice, the motion of Chinese brushstroke painting or calligraphy, as well as the shifting physical and metaphysical arena that is human relationship. Each poem title is one of the 54 Sword movements, translated from the Chinese by the poet's husband, Wong Yoo-Chong. Tai Chi literally means the outer-most limits, great polarities."

"Based on the classical moves of Tai Chi sword, these poems have all their distilled grace, but cover much more distance, leaping from marine life to geometry to intimacy with ease." Cole Swenson