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I always knew that I came fi'olll
another language
and now even when I CJn no longer see
I continue to arrive at words
but the leaves
and the shells were already here
and my fingers finding them echo
the untold light and depth
I was betrayed into Illy true calling
and denied in
III
y advancement
I may have seemed somewhat strange
caring in Illy own time for living things
wi th no va lues that we know
languages wash over them one wave at
.1
time
when the houses fell
in the earthquake
I lost my wife
and my daughter
it all roared and stood sti ll
falling
where they were in the daylight
I named for my wife a flower
as though I could name a flower
my wife dark and luminoLls
and not there
I lost the drawings of the flowers
in fire
I lost the studies
of the flowers
my first six books in the sea
then I saw that the flowers themselves
were gone
they were indeed gone
I saw
that Illy wife was gone
then I saw that my daughter was gone
afterwa rd my eyes th emsel ves were
gOIl
e
I'AIUISAN REVIEW
