Re: Being "off"

[Dennis Greene <dennisg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

My poem "Waiting" which I sent to the list some time ago is an attempt to
describe being "off". I am resending it as a contribution to the current
thread of putting being "off" into words.  By way of explanation the
"torturers horse" is a reference to W.H. Auden's poem "Musee de Beaux Arts"
in which he discusses suffering and it's place in the scheme of things.

Dennis


Waiting.

Movement is memory;
my thoughts, a sluggish Congo,
out of a heart of darkness.

Still waiting,

now at the core of the galaxy,
where space/time changes meaning
and not even thought escapes the event horizon.

Not even thought.

Still waiting.

So still that the torturer's horse
uses me for a scratching post.

I am still and I am waiting.

A small bird moves on the edge of vision;
tiny, exquisite, busy with doing.

I am still.

Watching and waiting.

Enduring the horse,

exploring the river,

ignoring the grasp of gravity,

and far beyond the comprehension of
yellow winged honeyeaters.


                Dennis Greene