Aural

A poem in twenty-four parts, first published in an edition of 190 copies by Gil Ott's Singing Horse Press, 1984.





Στην Ελένη

.

An evocation
to live with

the light
uninvited

..

to be that
touch that

time takes
heart.

...

Even as
you bled

the light
years kept
light

years away

....

What we left
unfinished

remains mist
taken innocence

.....

aye

to
see

the
sea-

girl's
curls

......

At depth, solitude's
but a stone.

The thought of water
petrifies me.

.......

the sea
unfolds

its self

conches
nest

........

Perhaps each
image imagines

itself a
mirror

that breaks
its spell.

.........

muse

here you
can

feel light,
here

..........

sense the
wind

shores the
pines'

reticence

...........

As if the light
weren't

answer enough
just to live

by, asking it.

............

Don't breathe a word.
We were warned before

the wind cut us in two.

.............

even the waters
left speechless

on our lips
sound wishes

..............

To speak what
language

pure and simple,
seeks--no

one will hold
his peace.

...............

Mother's washing
the white

nests everywhere
cries of doves

................

aspirations

What we
hope we

care fully
prepare

praise for
the promise
kept

our silence.

.................

Leaf turning
its yellow

coat flaps
over

winter's back

..................

motive

Act, difficult
to live with

the light
day dreams

leaves intact

...................

harbinger

The message was almond blossoms,
a laying down of arms, warmth.

Morning found us under white
sheets, cool as marble.

....................

Snow dance
down

the meadow
an old

soft shoe

tracks.

.....................

White page.
You give

back what
the world

leaves, laughed
at.

......................

He said the dancers become trees
bared limbs his dreams picked clean.

.......................

a light
lit you

alight
on me

night-
fall

's now

........................

Snow. You fled
before

the rose had
fallen.