KENNETH KOCH
ENTIRELY IRRESPECTIVE OF WHEN IT HAPPENS AND
OF 'I\' HO WE ARE
89
That disappoint.s sociologists but pleases poets. Phil osoph ers long ago
dismissed
From the cl assroom where an yon e was li st.enin g may now cock an ea r
back-
Wards to see if a t thi s new equa lit y some sea urchin s are startin g
to
hi ss
What a muni cipa l monument ! and I wonder a lways if my fri ends (two
best o n es) tho ught tha t thi s
That I a lways write a bo ut but no t. n ecessaril y a lways think about mos t
but just a t certa in times o f emphas is
(Old fas hi on ed poetry, you are a dead goa t ! wh erefore I love th ee for a
sec and pick th ee up
But then cast th ee down aga in , 0 goa t) I go backwa rds I wonder
If
my fri ends knew (kn ow) how stupid I am how dirty how sh all ow
They seem more in stinctual, like th ese, but I am instin ctua l o ther
I mean o therwise but now and aga in I do wonder and now and aga in I
say I wonder
UNEXPLAINED INDIVIDUAL FOUND STANDING IN
O UARZAZATE
Am I the h eight and wonder of a ll civilizati on s? Wh a t th e hell is my life
gettin g a t?
If
I conceive it ch rono log icall y, it is a ll some sort of dippy
romantic (but slightl y comi c) tragedy but wh en I am no t o bli ged to do
that (how could I be, fa t mountains?), I get to thinking like this, when
everything is present, and th at's when Essaouira and Ouarzaza te are
overwhelming and in escapable probl ems. Either everythin g h as to be
sati sfi ed stra ight on or in backward s- forwa rds, whi ch a t leas t I began
with by coming here first in a pl an e and then in a car. You whose
message deli ghts me! The troubl e is you a re spread o ut ! No wonder we
like bi g- breasted peopl e. They
Give the illusion of eternit y, th e space time infinit y th a t thi s topi c
seem s to require
And Essaouira if you- I like better "thou"-art spread o ut
Bes ides, in a ma thema ti ca l fashi on , it is a ll to the good
And if you g ive me this [('ding mo re th an a larger cit.y it is beca use if it
is too la rge it is no thing. Sea urchin s and the mo numen t. Th e casbah .
And the ma n puts th e windshield on . I was about to say ' ' Man '' - Man
puts the windshield on . Wh ere have we been since o ur first houses?
And what, as ide from th at fir st adjustment , ha ve we been?
Surely Dea th will not find u s unread y for the water
