On Genesis & the Nature of the First Cause

"genesis" by Leonardo Nierman


on genesis & the nature of the first cause
(how we cannot get there)


pushed off: he read
in physics
that it

pushed off
the thing
it was

that we say
began it
an it

that was
the it
of it

this thing
we are
& are

not
but ever
something

like the spot where
it pushed off
that spot

soft it
must be
have been

still is or hard
adamantine
pulsing

hard
like a steel
sheet of rose

skin & then it
the it that
was

& was not
how can
it be

yet
it is
& being

the heart
the center
of the pushed

off place the lace
lashed our
heart

between
the breasts
of god: see the spot

the light leaving
like hands
pushing

off
there:
the place

laced lashed left
the breast
of god

the light
a push
away

(did you say the walls
were hands: the light
leaving: pushed off)

she never said
a thing: it
was just

gone: pushed off
the place
laced

this first heart
an emptiness
cupped

how he looks at his hands
the heat flowing out
& if she breaks

the man in the book
imagines a light
looks back

how soft
her hair
curls


Richard Lance Williams

Posted over on More Poetry