Sunday, April 25, 2010

THE COMPLETE PRESENCE

The complete presence
of almost nothing
- the person vanished -

stirs a memory, embodies
name, voice, and gesture,
forgets the face.

Unawares, others trust -
only I am
watching this familiar

relatedness turn duplicitous,
the man seeming
equal to no

more of distance
than umbilical measure,
is, will be, has been

uncoupled - finessing
recall from indistinct
imaginings. His silence

breaks the trance
of speech, will
cracks, forcing acts

to hope for
incoherence or movement
toward vital, joyous

enterprise. The car
pulls out, heads
for the horizon's

linear necessity,
scraping past perspective's
diminishment. Clouds flatten 

feeling, the storm
moves in, and an entrance-
way door closed

prematurely.  Skittish
with indifference?  Bowed
beyond boomerangs,

the here comes back, 
returns to life 
from what he had thought

to put
behind.  Others.  
Estrangement.

4 comments:

  1. This one feels so familiar. Presence, present.....did your teachers ever ask if you were present?

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  2. "Present" changed to "here," "here" to "hear," "hear to ear," say what?
    "I said, I can't hear you." "Of course you can't hear me. You can't hear me, because I"m not here!"

    Thanks for your comments, Kit. - Chico

    ReplyDelete
  3. great. i am reminded of someone i loved deeply, who died.

    ReplyDelete