I search for your name in oblivion,
But towering stacks of coins, high-backed chairs,
And other trappings of great majesty,
They all conspire to hide you from my gaze.
They fear you more than I, for they are wise.
I feel that, tapping my way through this verse,
I am coiling around this evil Earth
(My tongue in my teeth like the ringed snake’s tail).
Such a curse, to be my own enemy…
I never know if I should take offense
At my inability to end this:
Shall it be the heroic slashing of a sword?
Shall it be a hammer, mightier than all stones?
(No, your touch is wider than a blade, it shatters)
(No, it was not by force that Troy’s ancient walls fell)
The word your father gave you as your own
Cannot capture the rising of the sun.
The awful pain of war-broken cities,
The ripples in a pool that has dried up,
The cry of a bird that will die at noon,
These things cannot contain your mysteries.
How long can a ship without sails survive the sea?
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