Osip
Mandelstam,
in the
Siberia of the mind I am doing lines
to make verses into thoughts
and thoughts
into corpses.
In the rain a heavy head shifts,
wet, pearled, crowned for a moment.
A knock at the door, an earthquake.
In the small space
between the 4 and 5 on the clock's face,
when shoelaces
must be tied
below the coatrack,
one
doesn’t think of one’s own fingers
and their
weaving,
but of van Gogh,
the soft
earth,
and the droll joke at breakfast.
Each frame opens.
Law and order leans down with chalk.
And those who chose to walk, walk.
Martyred once, martyred twice,
anarchic
script greets the resurrected.
Love the chalk and walk part.
ReplyDelete"In the rain a heavy head shifts,
ReplyDeletewet, pearled, crowned for a moment.
A knock at the door, an earthquake."
Very nice. Reminds me of Zagajewski...with that quiet eye for detail and then the loud intrusion of the tragic.
I was also reminded of Zagajewski - his Mysticism for Beginners. I like the 'wet, pearled' head, heavy with rain, and 'crowned' for a moment. Evocative: thorny crown too, maybe. Not sure who the speaker is throughout the poem; and not sure, too, of the setting. Are you standing in front of Mandelstam's grave?
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