To Read a Poem is to
Eavesdrop on the Language²
Language keeps Closer to us
Than any Silence or any God³
Its best to let Language Speak
Its piece while standing Inside it⁴
What is the Language Using us for?⁵
Language is not a Cunning Conventionalism
Arbitrarily Agreed upon: it’s an Internal Necessity,
Begotten of a Lustful Longing to express a human’s
Secret Sense of their ability to Interpret Nature⁶
The mission of Language is to Uncover – not
To hide – the value of Meaning & Existence⁷
Only one thing remains Reachable, Close
And Secure amid all losses: Language⁸
I use Language to build the Gardens
I’m Destined to be Expelled from⁹
This is our Encrypted LanguageOf Suffering – of Protection¹⁰
¹ Ntozake Shange, Takin A Solo
² Paul Batchelor, Weight of the Word, Weight of the World
³ John Berger, And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos
⁴ Rae Armantrout, Craft Talk
⁵ W.S. Graham, What is the Language Using Us For?
⁶ Francis Rolt-Wheeler, History of Literature
⁷ Circe Maia tr. Jesse Lee Kercheval, En El Tiempo
⁸ Paul Celan tr. Rosmarie Waldrop, Speech (1958)
⁹ Momina Mela, Prayer is Better than Sleep
¹⁰ Erika Meitner, HolyMolyLand