Particles: New and Selected Poems. Dan Gerber

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      Matter appears to be jealous of light —

      every particle mad to escape its mass

      to be just the light by which we

      see our world — without self —

      without the distractions of a you

      and me, apparently eternal

      like an electron — to have

      no substance in which to decay.

      The mysterious shore across the great void —

      a scary place from all you’ve heard,

      all you’ve imagined —

      never quite clearly in view,

      and no one you know

      has been there.

      And how will you endure your thoughts

      in the great dark absence

      of everything you’ve known?

      Like the terminals of the battery

      in a lamp,

      matter and antimatter

      cancel each other out

      to become light.

      Why anything at all should exist

      is a riddle we haven’t yet solved.

      Going and coming, the full moon

      and rising sun

      greet each other

      across the plane of the morning.

      “Till later,” says the moon.

      “I’ll be along,” says the sun.

      “I’ll be around,” says the earth.

      “Take your time.”

      Near the pole,

      the needle of the magnetic compass

      spins like drain water

      in its dying frenzy —

      finally so close to home.

      from THE REVENANT

      1971

      The Freeze

      During the night the wind shifted to the north

      thawing stopped

      and snow dust

      swirled across the frozen lake

      We pulled back into ourselves

      the horses were silent

      the air too brittle for sound

      The house creaks around us

      snow hisses

      through the trees

      We are alone

      wrapped in the wind

      I light a candle to write this poem

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