#1986 - in the first person

 

1986

6.160

9.vi.25

in the first person

for wise surprise

 

for David Adès

from notes I made in his ZOOM session

 

 

the place where we meet is a poem

 

it’s between of breaths, however far

held here in trust

 

even on a page, there’s this –

the underskin of the real, of the told

this so many beats to the breath

 

every word is all of the voices it was

and then there is what to say next

 

how we make examples of ourselves

 

get to be king, wash feet, sweep street

 

some say it’s aspiration

and some, a past lives thing

 

here’s a voice from under rock

from the fire

 

what a crowd!

the party hats! the streamers!

it’s fancy dress

it’s the glass slipper ball

 

where we try on another place, face, name

 

here are the tablets

break them an swallow

bring the mountain down

 

later there come the objective conditions

then, ask who will delve?

 

it’s dig in the clouds

float under the garden

 

we can talk about this

 

who am I?  who are you?

 

there’s more to do than what we are

 

we need some scenery, some plot

 

it’s true all these animals were us

far further back than Adam

 

I sing to the things of this accident

 

the avid I

a wreck in slow motion

 

here’s some hic et nunc

here’s some sine qua non

 

can you quit the dayjob yet?

 

do you hear the voices of things themselves

 

must get away from myself to be here

it’s the only way we’ll get home