Eating Blackberry Jam

When I hear that God is the same as existence,

I fall silent, but I keep turning my eyes

Up to the little creatures of nonexistence.

Some believe that the sea perch became identical

To keep the shark from zeroing in. But staying alive

Doesn't mean they are free from nonexistence.

The cries of the infant barn-swallows rising from

The mud-nests fastened ingeniously to the rafters

Taught me to love the skinny birds of nonexistence.

Taoists with their thin beards fishing all day

With a straight hook tell us they have learned

Not to expect a whole lot from nonexistence.

Blackberries have so many faces that their jam

Is a kind of thickening of nothing; each of us

Loves to eat the thick syrup of nonexistence.

When each stanza closes with the same word,

I am glad. A friend says, "If you're proud of that,

You must be one of the secretaries of nonexistence!"

Copyright World Poetry, Incorporated May/Jun 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved