again and again
- Again and again, however we know the landscape of love
- and the little churchyard there, with its sorrowing names,
- and the frighteningly silent abyss into which the others
- fall: again and again the two of us walk out together
- under the ancient trees, lie down again and again
- among the flowers, face to face with the sky.
falling stars
- Do you remember still the falling stars
- that like swift horses through the heavens raced
- and suddenly leaped across the hurdles
- of our wishes--do you recall? And we
- did make so many! For there were countless numbers
- of stars: each time we looked above we were
- astounded by the swiftness of their daring play,
- while in our hearts we felt safe and secure
- watching these brilliant bodies disintegrate,
- knowing somehow we had survived their fall.
going blind
- She sat just like the others at the table.
- But on second glance, she seemed to hold her cup
- a little differently as she picked it up.
- She smiled once. It was almost painful.
- And when they finished and it was time to stand
- and slowly, as chance selected them, they left
- and moved through many rooms (they talked and laughed),
- I saw her. She was moving far behind
- the others, absorbed, like someone who will soon
- have to sing before a large assembly;
- upon her eyes, which were radiant with joy,
- light played as on the surface of a pool.
- She followed slowly, taking a long time,
- as though there were some obstacle in the way;
- and yet: as though, once it was overcome,
- she would be beyond all walking, and would fly.
rememberance
- And you wait, keep waiting for that one thing
- which would infinitely enrich your life:
- the powerful, uniquely uncommon,
- the awakening of dormant stones,
- depths that would reveal you to yourself.
- In the dusk you notice the book shelves
- with their volumes in gold and in brown;
- and you think of far lands you journeyed,
- of pictures and of shimmering gowns
- worn by women you conquered and lost.
- And it comes to you all of a sudden:
- That was it! And you arise, for you are
- aware of a year in your distant past
- with its fears and events and prayers.
the future
- The future: time's excuse
- to frighten us; too vast
- a project, too large a morsel
- for the heart's mouth.
- Future, who won't wait for you?
- Everyone is going there.
- It suffices you to deepen
- the absence that we are.