Emergence / upon clifftop
Ever emerging into further con-
vergences of perforated selfhood,
one alights occasionally on this or
that compelling instant, truth shimmering
in the open apparently … for a time,
for a time … before scuttling away again
into the hills to hide beneath the trees.
Reflecting back later, nothing is
ever so convincing as it was
the first time, back when we began,
so credulous & dreamy. Now all
is very tranquil & relaxed, numbed
to the fortunes & fates of the floating
world, afloat on a dark sea as on an
ice barge, the sea guarding its secrets
jealously, being content with that, going
on without proof but quietly wondering
about the absent lights
of unspeakable home. To think,
when we traced the outlines of the
white sailing ships on the horizon
with our eyes, it was like they were
really moving. We felt sure they were
really moving.
Love & other geological fears
All so brief &
quickly over
Tiny gestures
only significant later
All the sounds of the world
not just for you
Black feather in the
right light glowing
Quiet geometries
of certain buildings,
Cat flaps of the heart
Shock of the new air
Folds of ripples of something
that means something
Weird elasticity of moments
as they pass.
Wave action contributes to the erosion
of the cliffs
The chalk forms in layers, contiguous
bands of flints
The waves come crashing in
Effervescence on contact
Silica replaces the original chalk
carbonate grain by grain
Simon Ravenscroft has published poems recently in Osmosis Press, The Penn Review, Apocalypse Confidential, ē·rā/tiō, RIC Journal, Soft Union, High Horse, Trampoline, and other places. He is a Fellow of Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge, and his website is: simonravenscroft.haus.
Image: ljstark, morguefile.com
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