In the room nobody knows exists
but the birds who cleave to the morning air,
whose calls interpret the worshipping ways of love,
I wait with my feathery bones.
Deliberate as a genius
I turn the invisible key in the door
that opens the distance from here to any other star.
We go slowly, absorbed in the merest gesture,
into ordinary light.
Siv Cedering
IN THE LAND OF SHINAR
In the land of Shinar
The buildings grow more and more
Complex. The learned man who is
An expert in mass communications
Says: A civilization can be measured
By the permanence of its buildings .
On the receiving end of the television
Signal, I want to argue: What about
Ise? Is the permanence meant to be
in the idea or the construction?
It grows more and more difficult
To communicate. Our adult language
Is rich in words we can speak,
And spell, but understanding is
Illusive. The three letters of the
Marriage vow are easy to pronounce,
But the promise is challenged, when
The body proves to be impermanent.
"Until death do us part" is dismissed
As an embarrassing remnant from some
