Archaic Torso of Apollo
We have no idea what his fantastic head
was like, where the eyeballs were slowly swelling. But
his body now is glowing like a lamp
whose inner eyes, only turned down a little,
hold their flame, shine. If there weren’t light, the curve
of the breast wouldn’t blind you, and in the swerve
of the thighs a smile wouldn’t keep on going
toward the place where the seeds are.
If there weren’t light, this stone would look cut off
where it drops so clearly from the shoulders,
its skin wouldn’t gleam like the fur of a wild animal,
and the body wouldn’t send out light from every edge
as a star does…for there is no place at all
that isn’t looking at you. You must change your life.
-Rilke
………………………………………………………………
In the Bus
Somewhere between Greenfield
and Holyoke
snow turned to rain
and a child passed through
me.
As a person moves through
mist
as the moon moves through
a dense cloud at night
as though I were cloud
or mist
a child passed through me.
On the highway that lies
across miles of stubble
and tobacco barns our bus
speeding
speeding disordered the slanting rain
and a girl with no name
naked
wearing the last nakedness
of
childhood breathed in me.
once, no
two breaths
a sigh she
whispered Hey you
begin again
Again?
again again
you’ll see
it’s easy begin again
long ago
-Grace Paley
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