Mastery

Then shall the lame man leap as a hart,
and the tongue of the dumb shall be free.
— Isaiah 35:6

Across the steep field, amid grasses
twitching like blown tatters of bandage,

I saw Paul Celan dalag — hazarding a dance,

albeit weighted down by an ashen overcoat
so that his dance seemed a sort of stagger,

anguished, euphoric, exacting, adroit — as if

this halting mastery might distract or scare off
the hound of oblivion snapping at his heels.

Printed from Cerise Press: http://www.cerisepress.com

Permalink URL: https://www.cerisepress.com/01/02/mastery