The Phrases of the Moon
By Andrew Joron
Full
the blow to a gong
—gone blind
with the sight of white
Silk, O milk
of my reason—
sun reseen in
My mad mad mirror.
Gibbous
Sense
Less science: the
Wish-apparition of a perfect fact.
As thought, the war
Of one upon one.
Half
Half a mind almost mine.
Whole
fragment, I am
A being from another word.
Crescent
Bow bent back—to what release?
My lone line, the join of all I am not.
A minor truth betrays
A major one—
A lore
for the lyre.
For it is written: liar with a why.
New
Calling all coincidence, I will
Deem the dark my day.
Yet—if I say
I am lying, I am lying
To you now.
O zero raised to zero—I am lying with you now.
Copyright Credit: Andrew Joron, "The Phrases of the Moon." Copyright © 2016 by Andrew Joron. Used by permission of the author for PoetryNow, a partnership between the Poetry Foundation and the WFMT Radio Network.
Source: PoetryNow (2016)