Economy of the Untamable
1
I know the road
hangs by a thread
swiftly moss, sudden trees
pieces of sound
come like fish when called
say rain, say spiral
eyes murmur
so it is
breath can’t be simple, can it
everydayness of afternoon
breath can’t find
can’t be simple, can it
roots on a slant
get used to loneliness
salt, hemispheres, glass
break into sky
taste extends
as avalanche
quiet network of hieroglyphs
2
Night seasons
I speak a streaming wind
thrash, throw myself at corners
far off, hidden, lurking
under this lid of cloth, this flap of lawn
how hard to say
only what’s inside
every step sinks
myriad bees
widen my mouth
do you hear me
awake at the bottom of the glass
3
Why do I
speak hard things
days consume
let the sea
why do I
almost dwell in silence
speak hard things
alone—eyes
easy isn’t simple
without the sea
noise melts into hills
4
Any minute
is there then a world
night speck
what distracts me
is there then
a world
are these grains or dust
a world
how far can I fling
myself from sleep
how far
any minute
myself from sleep
effort coils
without face
without road
neither grain nor dust
any minute
a world
5
Underwater thickens sky
let me lie here
alphabetize myself
whatever you do, please, don’t come and go
whatever you do, please
thoughts ridge
unending
what if part of me all of me
into matchbooks
underwater thickens
part of me all of me
can’t stay like this
here the absence
here the drums
by Jane Rice
I love the way this poem feels, reading;for me, the syntactic repetitions and lyricism create an obsessive tension between the domestic and the undomesticated.
Beautiful, thank you.
Thanks for your comment, Jessamyn.
A beautiful poem. Tender. The solitariness of human beings as opposed to the grandeur of nature. “Alphabetize myself” – create oneself as God created the world with the letters according to Kabalah.
Saw someone reading this on a BART train this evening. Beautiful poem, I especially like the title — it’s what stuck in my mind and caused me to looked it up once I got home.