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Two poems from Meditations on the 40 Stations of Mansour Al-Hallaj by Pierre Joris 28. Circumspection (hiyata) looks all around us. The inspector cometh, doffs his head carefully, the brainstem shows a hiatus: signs of overexposure. Morocco is brought up but not as a place. A first wave of paranoia boils the lobster half a careful red. Come back an hour later. When the cows come home I’ll act with circumspection. Swivel-eye on stalks stalk the intruder. A half-baked lobster bites through its leash despite the (poet’s) vigilance. But you can’t lead another one through hell without paying the price. That’s the curse of coherence, a thatched roofs monomania. You can’t look upon straw & find the dividend. Eager-beaver frees the silly association of straw & law. But it was something else a minute ago. Minute drift makes the eye tear. Despite trying hard I am out of circumspection. There’s a hiatus between. There is a between. There is is and eyes. Closed. Watch your step. You are a magnac, better than cognac not as fond as pinot white, grey or red— ça coule de source, the sauce, pour it on, more the sin & tax the seller—a deal is a deal unless you know a route to the moon. I do. Say good-bye to Paris. 29. Regrets for things lost (iftiqad) but regret will not bring it back. nothing left to do but turn your back on it. tell yourself when you know where something is then it is not lost, even though that something lie at the bottom of the ocean. Nothing ever is lost, & that may be the only thing that is real cause for regret. | ||||||||||||
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