Scot Herrigel

I stood imagining one Winter night

And saw the organ of a monster’s sight:

That ghostly orb, a serpent’s blinkless eye,

Was swimming through the ocean of the sky.

The world, submerged within surfaceless dark,

Seemed changed and transformed: it was then as stark

As any sea’s low floor, immune to rays

That bring illumination to the days.

The leafless trees were like anemone,

The swaths of dusty snow, shipwreck debris,

The burning taper of my breath sustained

Expiring cigarette, the single flame.

Reflections clear and hard as glass desired

To catch the silver and alien fire

While ponderously blowing wind was like

A crocodile that waits for prey to bite.

That sound, because it was so persistent,

Endless, eternal, never to be spent,

Became like silence to transfigured ears:

Some base of existence seemed to be near.

And then my mind, just like a scientist

That studies organisms, discontent

To view just one, but searches down the line,

Began to think of stars, to redefine;

For they seemed now to be so many eyes

All focused on this world, to my surprise,

As if they were the viewers of some show

That wait for a conclusion yet unknown.

Posted on January 31st, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized