Palinode to Solipsism

Nobody knows
What its like
(but you.)

Nobody knows
What its like
(so come on motherfucker,)

Nobody knows
What its like
(except everybody.)



Stigmata

          The circle is an ellipse whose two foci are one.
                                                                              - Euclid

A piece of shale slips
Beneath the weight of climbing,

And suddenly an upright man
Circles around two centers.

My palms abrade
In the attitude of prayer

They lift to save face.



[A bag of bones]

A bag of bones
Has afflatus,
But modestly contains
The noxious odor of

Divinity to itself



Eschatology

Too many have paid to see
The sideshow charlatan
Bend a compass
To his whim.

Those who stand in foxholes
Receive communion.
There is no teleology in the end.



from Dante
     an adaptation of Purg. 15

And see a little, ...
The tendrils of a fog
That steals our sight
And chokes our breath,
No turn of clarity,

As dark as hell, as dark
As a clouded, starless night,
Devoid of every planet;
Never did wool so scratch my eyes,
Nor an untanned hide so
Itch my skin, so shut my stinging eyes;

So faith offered me a shoal, a shoulder
To lean on, as a blindman's focus guides him,
Through harm, through hate,

So did I walk through the bitter, filthy air,
Listening: "Beware, -- be not bereft of me..."



[Beauty is cheap]

Beauty is cheap.
Nature is profligate
With Heaven and Hell;

Wildflowers bloom
In the decay,

And then, --- O what rapture's
Thrown away ---

Life eats death,
Death eats life,

And Love is in
          the way.



[Champagne]

Champagne
Makes a man
A cat in an
Afternoon's
Windowsill.