The Chimeras
-W.H. Auden
Absence of heart- as in public buildings,
Absence of mind- as in public speeches,
Absence of words- as in goods intended for the public,
Are telltale signs that a chimera has just dined
On someone else; of him poor foolish fellow,
Not a scrap is left, not even his name.
Indescribable- being neither this nor that,
Uncountable- being any number,
Unreal- being anything but what they are,
And ugly customers for someone to encounter,
It is our fault entirely if we do;
They cannot touch us; it is we who will touch them.
Curious from wantonness- to see what they are like,
Cruel from fear- to put a stop to them,
Incredulous from conceit- to prove they cannot be,
We prod or kick or measure and are lost;
The stronger we are the sooner it is over;
It is our strength with which they gobble us up.
If someone, being chaste, brave, humble.
Get by them safely, he is still in danger,
With pity remembering what once they were,
Of turning back to help them. Don?t.
What they were once was what they would not be;
Not liking what they are not is what now they are.
No one can help them; walk on, keep on walking,
And do not let your goodness self-deceive you;
It is good that they are but not that they are thus.
Skopelos and Virgin
-by Skorda
when first you see it
across the water,
rising round and new above the mountain.
Open your mouth and swallow
while youth holds its roundness near,
and you are running fearless in the dark.
Hold it inside, it is still warm
and you will need its light,
there, inside you.
Down the road of time, somewhere
after you’ve aged, traveled,
Explored, discovered.
And the dust around your doorway
has been pounded hard and smooth under your feet.
When you find yourself growing weary and bored,
when your eyes see only ruins,
and your heart is empty.
You may believe, in your exhaustion,
that this is truth, at last.
That the mystery has unraveled,
leaving no wilderness to explore or tame.
All secrets have been shared,
the frontier has dissolved.
Know then, with these thoughts,
you have been swallowed.
The warm belly of the beast
comforts with confining darkness
and lulls with rhythmic sounds
Murmuring to you,
Curl up and sleep,
just go to sleep.
Shake your head,
stretch your legs,
do not sleep now.
Remember what you know.
You swallowed the moon,
you hold it inside you.
Not as a magpie hoarding shiny things,
or wearing the moon for beauty
or bartering the moon for wealth.
You swallowed the moon for this moment.
When you will walk to the water’s edge,
open your mouth, release the moon
and let its light build you a pathway
across the wine dark sea.
©Skorda 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The Chimeras
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always i used to read smaller articles or
ReplyDeletereviews which as well clear their motive, and that is also happening with this piece of writing which I am reading here.
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