4. Ars Poetica at the Window
Bell, MarvinThe history of this moment lengthens in shadow.
Trying to see the past, the light from a lamp is sucked up.
Leaving one in a field of static with a little music in the background.
This isn't hard to fathom after midnight.
There are whole sections of the brain without road traffic.
Domains where the mind is but a knapsack.
One needed little things, toiletries and the like, in the countryside.
The swirling of the river should have told us.
That whatever tries to move in a straight line shall be forced aside.
Shall be bent at every turn, creating a continuous arc.
And so that arcing shall draw a spiral, as it must.
This is clear after midnight, when striving shrivels.
I crave an intimacy too private to speak of.
Truly, one must close one's eyes to see.
True today, true tomorrow, true in the posthumous present.
Copyright World Poetry, Incorporated Jan/Feb 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved