Palinode (soubasse)
In the land of two-dollar mornings, those things
we barely sense take precedence: uncaressed
skin sheathed in ivy, the punctuation mark diverting
power. Insidious corn, the cries of distressed trees
(cavitation in the xylem), soubasse, the ghost note,
prickling from below. Singularity. The appointee’s
hubris. The defining weight of a zero’s center.
A zero’s center defines emptiness, meaning nothing,
or, diverted light, a vacuum. Regard plenum: an air-filled
space, or a complete gathering of a legislative body. And
how did we arrive here from there? From the body we
compose units of measure: an ell, digit, fathom, the mile’s
thousand paces. I expose film to light, concealing yet
establishing a rational point.
Concealing the point implies position without extension,
a moment shedding its cracked sheath and giving rise
to the divine: above, below, male and female, hot or
cold. Reconciliation. A plateau. The still place linking the
infinite to the open hand, limitless black. Burning, I
calculate oxidation and dispersal, tendrils, a flaxen leaf,
its proposition to endings.
This first appeared, in slightly different form, in ditch, in January 2014, and was posted here in September 2016..
Powerfully thought-provoking
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Derrick!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My mental exercise for the day! (a pleasurable stretch)
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am pleased to have helped. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is a difficult poem Bob. The first stanza is a son of a bitch, brilliant, but i have to take a Tylenol now.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Skip the Tylenol. Move directly to whiskey.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That wouldn’t work: if i drink spirits, depending on the company, i usually just end up sobbing pathetically. Whiskey, in good company i can sometimes manage. It’s beer for me, if anything. But all in all, unless i am in magnificent company, gimme a strong coffee.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a beer or wine guy who’ll occasionally sip a cognac or scotch. The hard stuff is hard on me. 🙂 And yeah, coffee is often my elixir of choice.
LikeLiked by 1 person