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Trompe l’oeil

Trompe l'oeilAll the failures of an existence,when meticulously compiled,and given a certain coherence,resemble a sort of pyramid—monumental—though truncated,maybe—when seen from a distanceat the precise moment the fadingsun reaches it,… More

Poems (1945-1971)

The CanaryThey stood him where the harshest wind blowsthey promised him to the froststhey gave him a black dressand a red tiea nail-punctured sun that drippedblack glassesblood… More

“At sunrise I arose . . .”

At sunrise I aroseTo the sound the machine animals makepassing by in the streets over headsWas it briefly interminable orinterminably brief or bothIt was the face ever undone by… More

Recumbents

Cardiogram (May)The Seine was green by your armFurther than the Mirabeau bridge beneaththe hills like a breathingThe suburbs praised usI would have wanted I would haveso needed you to… More

The Gifts

Today I put on / a hot red blood / today people love me / a woman smiled at me / a girl gave me a shell / a… More

Acrobat

AcrobatBetween word and thinga leap over nothing.Around the wordthe myriad layers of dreams.An onion. An atom.A ravenous onion.Between one layer and anothernothing.The layers leap over the void,take the hollows by… More

Aphrodite Colleague

Aphrodite ColleagueModern anadyomene of the rest rooms lovelyBotticellian mid a great flushing noisecenters herself in green doorframe arranging blondeneath electricity her braid her waveand with a downy sweater’s sleevetugs… More

On Translation

Translation is of course conspiracy. Whatever else it is or may intend, translation represents a concerted move of the few against the many, the foreign against the domestic, there… More