Notes for Echo Lake 4
Who did he talk to
Did she trust what she saw
Who does the talking
Whose words formed awkward curves
Did the lion finally talk
Did the sleeping lion talk
Did you trust a north window
What made the dog bark
What causes a grey dog to bark
What does the juggler tell us
What does the juggler’s redness tell us
Is she standing in an image
Were they lost in the forest
Were they walking through a forest
Has anything been forgotten
Did you find it in the dark
Is that one of them new atomic-powered wristwatches
Was it called a talking song
Is that an oblong poem
Was poetry the object
Was there once a road here ending at a door
Thus from bridge to bridge we came along
Did the machine seem to talk
Did he read from an empty book
Did the book grow empty in the dark, grey felt hat blowing down the
street, arms pumping back and forth, legs slightly bowed
Are there fewer ears than songs
Did he trust a broken window
Did he wake beneath a tree in the recent snow
Whose words formed difficult curves
Have the exaggerations quieted down
The light is lovely on trees which are not large
My logic is all in the melting-pot
My life now is very economical
I can say nothing of my feeling about space
Nothing could be clearer than what you see on this wall
Must we give each one a name
Is it true they all have names
Would it not have been simpler
Would it not have been simpler to begin
Were there ever such buildings
I must remember to mention the trees
I must remember to invent some trees
Who told you these things
Who taught you how to speak
Who taught you not to speak
Whose is the voice that empties
Copyright Credit: “Notes for Echo Lake 4” by Michael Palmer, from The Lion Bridge. Copyright © 1998 by Michael Palmer. Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
Source: The Lion Bridge (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1998)