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November 17, 2008

Monday Poem

///
Pythagoras and me @ 2 am
Jim CullenyImage_music_of_the_spheres

I could be up all night
without a single line to write;
...........................
I might be ass-in-chair till 1st light
eyes propped with toothpicks.
...........................
Open, I might sit with digits
poised over a keyboard
...........................
like condors on thermals
scanning the earth for a bite
...........................
the desert page dry and white.
I might even catch some moon-talk.
...........................
She speaks, you know
—whispers to Venus when I turn my head.
...........................
So how might I know then what she said?
Telepathy, a poet's curse, or worse.
...........................
Imagination, with its ears perked
for a little Music of the Spheres
...........................
(a defunct old idea that occurred to a Greek
once who was also up almost in tears
...........................
way past bedtime waiting for a theory
or the sense to hit the sheets).
///

Posted by Jim Culleny at 10:29 AM | Permalink

Comments

Great poem. I've always loved "harmony of the spheres." Johannes Kepler wrote some great stuff on it.

That same monochord is my avatar on an (un)certain filesharing community.

Posted by: Sean Parker | Nov 17, 2008 2:20:48 PM

Not to be picky....

Imagination, with it's ears perked
for a little Music of the Spheres

"it's ears"??

Posted by: tara | Nov 17, 2008 4:06:23 PM

Writing poetry has it's hazards, but its worth it in the end.

Posted by: Jared | Nov 17, 2008 9:11:33 PM

Thank you. I love the poems, but it's always difficult for me to say a word about them. They seem to demand poetry in response, not essay-like commentary.

Posted by: CriticalMassI | Nov 18, 2008 12:02:31 AM

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