The masques of dream - monk in his
lineage - what does he wear to shield
himself? First shield made of a cloud,
second - a tree, third - a shadow; and
leading to the stretched coils of light
(how they want to gather us up
with our permission), three men.
Two dead tho' dead is supernumerary.
The cause is the effect.
He laughed like a lake would
but only once never twice into the same
Meaning, there is no counting units in death, death is “supernumerary”, i.e. beyond numbers. Death-and this is a recurring theme in Harrison’s poetry-is an all encompassing state that we all have in common.
Birthday