I’m drenched
in the flood
which has yet to come

I’m *******
in the prison
which has yet to exist



Not having played
the game of chess
I’m already the checkmate



Not having tasted
a single cup of your wine
I’m already drunk



Not having entered
the battlefield

I’m already wounded and slain



I no longer
know the difference
between image and reality



Like the shadow
I am

And

I am not

I went on a walk today.
I wore my blue dress,
the one with the pockets,
you remember?

I went on a walk today.
Two sparrows were singing to each other.
I wondered what they were saying.
I do wish I could sing back,
you know.

I went on a walk today.
The neighbors told me I looked like springtime.
I smiled back and it felt like dancing.

I went on a walk today.
Two skips down the road,
they say,
three skips down the road,
they sing.

I went on a walk today.
The world was dripping with honey.
Sticky sweet. And so thick you
might drown in it.

I went on a walk today.
The trees were sighing in the sun,
and the rusty weather vane was brittle in reply.
I wonder when the last time was
that they danced.

Believe—
how skies are
folding blankets: theirs
to mock the solidity of material form.

Believe—
what skies are
gesturing to bloodless hurricanes.

Believe—
why skies are

Yours.

O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities fill’d with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light—of the objects mean—of the struggle ever renew’d;
Of the poor results of all—of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me;
Of the empty and useless years of the rest—with the rest me intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.

That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.