JIGSAW PUZZLE
First, the four corners,
Then the flat edges.
Assemble the lost borders,
Walk the dizzy ledges,
Hoard one color—try
To make it all connected—
The water and the deep sky
And the sky reflected.
Absences align
And lock shapes into place,
And random forms combine
To make a tree, a face.
Slowly you restore
The fractured world and start
To recreate an afternoon before
It fell apart:
Here is summer, here is blue,
Here two lovers kissing,
And here the nothingness shows through
Where one piece is missing.
"I'm just trying to do this jigsaw puzzle ..." (No live version on You Tube, unfortunately! At least that I could find with a quick search.)
[Breaking my blogging silence for a moment. A stressful semester is almost over: lots of grading, lots of illness in the family, including me. Much to blog about come January: lots of poems have crossed my path recently that I would like to post comments on!]
2 comments:
The missing man speaks! Sorry to hear about the illnesses.
A small poetry group meeting discussed Stallings' Hapax (my selections therefrom). Everyone was particularly impressed by the concluding poem, "Ultrasound."
I like this one a lot too.
on health: I've had a bastard of a bad back since end of August. Only now beginning to feel a bit 'normal,' (e.g., able to sit in chairs).
"Ultrasound" is indeed a wonderful poem. I don't remember where I first saw it, but it was before the book came out.
I hope your back is feeling better. I'm feeling pretty fit right now, but Andrea is suddenly having bad sinus problems!
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