from Stanzas in Meditation: Stanza 2

I think very well of Susan but I do not know her name

I think very well of Ellen but which is not the same

I think very well of Paul I tell him not to do so

I think very well of Francis Charles but do I do so

I think very well of Thomas but I do not not do so

I think very well of not very well of William

I think very well of any very well of him

I think very well of him.

It is remarkable how quickly they learn

But if they learn and it is very remarkable how quickly they learn

It makes not only but by and by

And they may not only be not here

But not there

Which after all makes no difference

After all this does not make any does not make any difference

I add added it to it.

I could rather be rather be here.

Copyright Credit: Gertrude Stein, Stanza II (Part 3) from Stanzas in Meditation and Other Poems (Los Angeles: Sun and Moon Press, 1994). Reprinted with the permission of Mr. Stanford Gann Jr., Levin & Gann, P.A., Literary Executor of the Estate of Gertrude Stein.

Source: The Yale Gertrude Stein (Yale University Press, 1980)