Some tragic falling off from a first world
Of undivided light. Or the other notion that
Because there is in this world no one thing
To which the bramble of blackberry corresponds
A word is elegy to what it signifies.
We talked about it late last night and in the voice
Of my friend, there was a thin wire of grief, a tone
Almost querulous. After a while I understood that
Talking this way, everything dissolves: justice,
Pine, hair, woman, you and I. There was a woman
I made love to and I remembered how, holding
Her small shoulders in my hands sometimes
I felt a violent wonder at her presence
Like a thirst for salt, for my childhood river
With its island willows, silly music from the pleasure boat,
Muddy places where we caught the little orange-silver fish
To feel wonder is often associated with a child’s perception of phenomena that are explainable yet impressive. Violent wonder implies a lustiness, an adult’s sense of wonder as the result of sexual desire and the libido.
Meditation At Lagunitas