227

226
A stone lies on the beachy shelf,
Its sand pedestal fed and eaten
By the obedient curving wave.
.
In the lacunae of the habitual
Is a chance thorn among millions,
And the drop pricked there may fabric
Cove, sand, wave, sky, and all.

225

224

223

222

221

220

219

218

217

216

215
The meaning of a strand of hair
Is not, and is not in the eye.
The words that would carriage a reflection
Slough intention:
There is nothing in that still pool--
But undue specificity,
A diffraction of seeming.

214

213

212

The physiology of the heart rests on the page

And its motions are painstakingly clear.

.

In the chambering lamplight four birds flutter

To a shout in the street and the unanswering day.

.

Insufficiency: a swimmer in the ever-turbulance

Must struggle thus, but nothing more.

211

210

209
It's an illness when looking at the sky
Having one but thinking of the next--
What is it, without words?
A nausea of longing
Engendering blankness.
Unperceived: the thud of a distant storm
And a horizon's shadowing flash.

208