Self-Portrait as Never

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Self-Portrait as Never

Within the unknown or could-have-been,
this stance requires certainty, the ability
to stand upright, rooted, implacable,
relentless in the isand the noin time.
I dream of faith, despite knowing its
secrets. Atoms swarm, seed heads explode.
Rivers reverse, the galaxy rots, and at the
center, we fold our arms across our chests
and deny or accept at whim, leaving behind
no footprints, only lost words, some dust.

 

“Self-Portrait as Never” was first published in After the Pause in June 2019. Thank you, Michael Prihoda, for accepting this piece.

11 thoughts on “Self-Portrait as Never”

  1. Don’t think you’ll achieve “Never” – you’re leaving LOTS of footprints behind. Poem footprints of your mind’s wandering.
    Good depiction of humanity’s response to all that swirls around us: deny or accept at whim (we think we’re making weighed choices, but whim pretty much captures it … how else can one explain certain affiliations?)

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  2. Is the fourth line “relentless in the is and the no in time” (vs. “isand” “noin”)? Your poems always get me thinking, Bob! The poignancy of that last line!

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