Blackbody
1
It is a house. A small house.
A small dark house perched on the edge of town
near the river.
The river is constant.
A man enters the house, closes the door behind him.
Nothing emerges. We witness this daily.
No one emerges.
The house is dark.
A man enters.
The river is constant.
2
A pebble pierces the water’s surface.
I awaken to imperfection.
A blackbody allows all incident radiation to pass into it,
absorbing all, reflecting none.
The tensile strength of water decreases as temperature rises.
Hakuin said if you doubt fully, you will awaken fully.
Before sunrise I unshutter the window.
Angle of reflection, angle of incidence.
My doubts reinforced with coffee, I pause.
Perfect blackbodies do not exist in nature.
Opaque box with a hole.
3
There is a house. A small house.
A small dark house perched on the edge of town
near the river.
Nothing emerges.
A man enters.
The river is constant.
“Blackbody” was first published on Aubade Rising in May, 2014, and appeared on the blog in February 2016.
O at the Edges 
Such a beautiful, evocative poem. 11 stars out of 10!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Daniel. It was written at a workshop in 2012. I still like it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is dark in such a lovely way, filled with shadow and late dusk kinds of emotions. Perfect poetry/haibun…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Since I’m just denied the tinged rightly red raspberry saison beer float picture. And hopped up on insoc nostalgia… (Meme was 2050 is just as far away as 1990… ” Cause, I’m ‘walking away’ from ‘walking away’ from things that just don’t last”…) Cause it washes away yeah it washes away that river moving past.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your comments frequently confuse and amuse me. Thank you! Keep ’em coming!
LikeLike
Hee hee – I couldn’t find a picture or him a tune you knew- to quite show how much caught a feeling within your words. https://www.totalwine.com/beer/specialty-styles/american-wild-ale/crooked-stave-petite-sour-raspberry/p/169161375 as they don’t make the “paradox” of divide Colorado version anymore. And as many beer ice cream floats pictures out there heck it’s on menus the country over ! I couldn’t find many pretty non black beers with ice cream… It’s important it’s a raspberry sour float… Just like each place is home. Those words, that river as pictured, said to me overlooking lake Erie from the Canadian side which outside of pictures and those seen 11 years ago, that an idea was hatched of a house as I chattered with this gal til poof! I wanted company and she to remain aloof. Stick out your tongue, give that moment you just heard, the “raspberry”. I mean fairly to say with the sweeeeetness of both icecream and time it’s a memory and not the first bleeeeeeeeeep blankity BLA bleep! Concluded times spent with a lass. It won’t link so you’ll have to search -mines googled- port burwell provincial park…more photos just under the gazebo one felt close to what I saw a zillion ago and the feeling your river foto conjured. So came the 80’s barely ‘information society band wiki’ tune as to booger relationships but in this case holed up somewheres. Quiet and enjoyable. Alone. ;). I hope this confuses you more! 😛 H n y you.
LikeLiked by 2 people
When a piece can take us in our own (often unexpected) direction, we know it’s poetry.
LikeLiked by 2 people
One of the best beers I’ve ever tasted was a raspberry ale that was brewed especially for a wedding. It was spectacular!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Give ’em the rasp!berry
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure. Thanks for reading.
LikeLike
I feel like I dreamed this, but maybe it’s just still embedded from 2016. (K)
LikeLiked by 1 person
These pieces can be sneaky that way.
LikeLiked by 2 people
As are the best.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do prefer those that work themselves under the skin and won’t let go.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Double intrigue … when does the man leave the house (likely under cover of darkness)? and why are watcher’s shutters closed at night (precluding watching)?
This could be the opening of a novel! (Enjoyed the tease.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
The prompt for the poem was to use a word from a list of astronomy terms. Blackbody spoke to me. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person