On Eurydice & Death & the Nature of Time

On Eurydice & Death & the Nature of Time


the cypress cut—the river gone—
four branchless trunks—
black & white their

knots—what is not carried
less silent—a tidal pull
on a boat of light

what dared the eye
to build of one
unfolding

an infinite cut
piercing the first gate
of creation—a nail burning

how close the street lamps
praise the shadows
dust & smoke

o play
the moon
river song drunk

“& who can save
the life of one
new hour”

Orpheus
forever
turns

dark stairs
& voices
wailing

***

the original
line was
thus

who can save
even one
hour

but the revised line
held concentric
possibilities

“& who can save
the life of one
new hour”

the omni (rec) tional
the out & in &
perpendicular

& though so
compelling an idea
of a palimpsest of time

where every moment
is recorded &
available

so too the poignancy
of ephemeral
moths

we cannot
save a single
moment: none

memory a soft
amber that darkens
as it preserves dead desire

Eurydice as every moment we
regret & every joy that burns a hole
that curls back on itself: that space
untouchable

o Alice can never go thru the looking glass
sideways
her finger touches the place that cannot
be crossed but only fallen from


Richard Lance Williams

Posted over on More Poetry