Tag Archives: light

a bird’s absence

Fresh tracks of a bird’s absenceset in concrete years agoskip across the walkwet this morning with a day of rain.Song drifts overfrom a cardinal perchedwhere he has found a break in it. Long ago sparrow chirpsplain as day in the … Continue reading

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first things first

1 Going up in flames issuch a pretentiousway to die, Empedocles – as though adding your carcasswould transform that indifferent fireinto a light to enlighten nations. Aetna is nothing more than a placein time where a perfect firebrings to mind … Continue reading

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a heart beating

City brittle as leaves that have driedin days of sun since the daythey flew for a moment, imaginingthemselves free, coming to rest inthis morning ritual, gathering,scattering, gathering – a heart beating, this city of dryleaves: it bursts again and againto … Continue reading

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all the light in the city

Walking in this night citywhere crowds that melt in middayheat congeal when the sun goes down, my eyes are on the ground,where I doubt there is space ortime to place one foot after another. Crowd moves, I am certainof it. … Continue reading

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dawn

rise slow the waysun rises skim surfacesof cities that knowno way now but upwe all needmore time to scale these walls to dawn, whenvertical light will sprawlall over a world stillhorizontal

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birds of a feather

A gaggle of gulls settleson a grassy expansewith six Canada Geese,a dozen pigeons, more sparrowsthan I can count at a glance, threerodents that may or may not besquirrels, and an old womanwith a bag of stale breadan hour before sunrise,when … Continue reading

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four political truths

1 All desirepeace, but notwhat makes peace 2 possible. In cold hard lightthe sound of desire is strange. 3 All is suffering,the source of sufferingdesire. Let desire go and there is no 4 suffering. But nothere, nottoday, not in this … Continue reading

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perching

As we take, in fact, a general view of the wonderful streamof our consciousness, what strikes us first is this differentpace of its parts. Like a bird’s life, it seems to be madeof an alternation of flights and perchings.          William James, … Continue reading

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summer aspens

pine washaspen lineswhite bristle mockingbirdsings light sabledown mountains song paintssilent lakes inlow places

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dawn

Sun’s everywhere afterdays of rain. Nota point of light, dawn is a floodthat has beenwaiting for a dam to break.

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