And this grey spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
          (from "Ulysses," Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Call me an empty ship, and outward-bound.
                   (from Moby-Dick, Herman Melville)
February 14th
10:25

Definitely - Mary Jo Bang

What is desire
But the hardwire argument given
To the mind’s unstoppable mouth.

Inside the braincase, it’s I
Want that fills every blank. And then the hand
Reaches for the pleasure

The plastic snake offers. Someone says, Yes,
It will all be fine in some future soon.
Definitely. I’ve conjured a body

In the chair before me. Be yourself, I tell it.
Here memory makes you
Unchangeable: that shirt, those summer pants.

That beautiful face.
That tragic beautiful mind.
That mind’s ravenous mouth

That told you, This isn’t poison
At all but just what the machine needs. And then,
The mouth closes on its hunger.

The heart stops.

  1. crosswordinspirations reblogged this from caitlinthinks
  2. caitlinthinks posted this