As If That Alone

“. . .odd . . . .”
—Emily Dickinson
“. . . a man . . . .”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
As If That Alone
“. . .the thing intended . . . .”
—Lyn Hejinian

Seed (and) Flower

It is not now as in old days he said
Calling out to the Boy the Bight the One
It is not now what they teach and repeat
As he is to us what he is to us

We do not say leave what he is to us
What he is to us the clock has not stopped
We do not say leave so we can see now
What he is to us he is to us what

Weak in judgment still still beneath the sun
It is not now we know that at least
We do not say so so let it be now
He is still to us what he is to us

What he is to us when he turns to us

Is a face pitiless and long delayed