—–—The Moon
—–—there’s the moon daughter and there’s a door in the moon
—–—the loon laughs the dark lake’s laugh at the fool who walks through
—–—the fool who walks through learns memory is his only mother
—–—another name for the moon or the mother who lives inside the moon
—–—there’s a daughter moon and there’s a door in the daughter
—–—the dark lake laughs the loon’s laugh at the moon on the water
—–—the fool who drinks the moon learns the moon’s old lesson
—–—the moon shines in the lake and his mother is an emptiness inside him
The Golden Fleece
lambs become lamps
in the fourth dimension
the sun felted in wool
lamps become lambs
the sun a ball of wool
in the fourth dimension
—–—Heraclitus
—–—light fire to get wood
—–—is the poem’s logic
—–—light fire to find wood
—–—is the poem’s mood
—–—an ash grammar would
—–—speak in the subjunctive
—–—in the middle of my life
—–—I woke in a dark would
Pottery
a person is a jug
a poem is a pot
each has a handle
inside its mouth
a poem is a poem
a person is not
the mind goes empty
in an open mouth
—–—Parmenides
—–—is the world the is
The Sirens
winter sea’s brittle ease
sings gnosis to ghosts
& the ghosts repeat the chorus
I know I
know
—–—Aphrodite
—–—a dove in the void
—–—perches on an arrow
—–—a dove in the rose
—–—cooing quiets her fear
—–—a void in the dove is
—–—a quiver for arrows
—–—eros has rose-petal wings
—–—a song and a sting
Thales
the stars said the olives would grow
and the thinker rented every press
and made his minor fortune
the olives said the stars would glow
and the servant girl laughed
at the thinker who fell down a well
looking up to learn his fortune
—–—Narcissus
—–—Beneath the face there is a stone
—–—But when the face is gone the stone can’t be found
—–—Beneath the stone there is a face
—–—But when the stone is gone the face can’t be found
Archaic Fragment
…so long ago she made the sea a home for her voice
her voice so long ago…
—–—Echo
—–—ago agon ego ago goes go o
Dan Beachy-Quick is a poet, essayist, and translator. His recent books include two translations: The Thinking Root: The Poetry of Ancient Greek Philosophy (Milkweed) and Wind—Mountain—Oak: The Complete Poems of Sappho (Tupelo). He is a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar at Colorado State University.
Photo by Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash
