January 17, 2019

A Poem for Etel

Etel Adnan on Mount Tamalpais, California. Courtesy of the artist.

Etel Adnan on Mount Tamalpais, California. Courtesy of the artist.

a mountain
claims space
of sky
in a heart,
surrounds
in stone and tree
this heart’s abode,
bides all days,
tends
to a body
is home.

Of and beyond    (it is)
from and within.
Towards               (thought)
without which    (none).
Around and on.
Under and by.
Unto.

In the morning
unto.
In day
within.
Nights
the mountain
darker than
night

a presence

whole mass

in moving air
unmoved
to us

an eyelash does not alter it.

But rain upon years.
Of soil
and are times

there

   for a human

                       love
       there

                       is
       danger

             there
                          is
          expectation
        on its peak

           we cannot see

           the sea
                          sent
                       slowly
                                    of its
                                    stone

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