HERMES RISING
In the middle of the night you have opened your eyes and risen.
and walked out naked into the night where the world
is suddenly still and the cities
have been swallowed whole and everything's present
as never before:
the air rising around you like waves,
shadows falling off, trees sinking
farther and farther into the earth
which smells of passion.
You dreamed you were chained to a cliff,
a phoenix
gnawing at your liver, you dreamed you were
falling and falling,
but now you know that you can't fall.
And you breathe in the light of stars-
Sirius brightest of all-and your flesh takes in
that light, and you listen
for the sound of feathers,
for the slow thrum of your blood that never lies,
and you lift up your arms to the night,
certain you can fly
Sam Hammil
and so I sat among the real
ReplyDeletemy coded flesh tuned to pick up the separation of people,
of images “sounding” hereditary meanings
of a critical gaze that captures in light and shadow
At some point lost in the same spot
I heard you talk
the vocal soothing experience
mnemonic voices cuddling ears
and though I am used to being among people who not knowing how to offer take anything they can from all
you gave the gift of being there, of being real, a counterpart
like a dual magnet of reciprocal sharing
You and I before the Other
so happy we share this present
ReplyDeleteat last
x
be sure, likewise.
ReplyDeletehttps://galengarwood.com/sam-hamill-1943-2018-in-memorium/
ReplyDeleteSeated Figure
ReplyDeleteIt is a long way from there to here.
It is longer than all the roads of exile,
longer even than the silence of the heron.
The landscapes changed. Someone
numbered the dead, someone mapped the pain.
Once, they say, the animals came to us,
and licked our palms for the salt,
and looked at us with huge knowing eyes,
then turned and left
alone. And entered Paradise.
Sam Hamill