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between matter and principle 275
one of the mantises
Homer, who was a poet of war ... knew it was the
shield of such happiness as is possible on earth.
-- santayana
The trim three-cornered head,
the body brought to an elegance
of elongations, the spiked
and heavy forearm tipped with
a surgical hook for the distracted
or the inattentive -- in sandalwood
and light green his parts are one
deadly sanctity, twig-like
among the overlapping leaves.
my friend the motorcyclist
Like you I have shunned unrest
by moving, drawn up into
my matter, engrained and tough,
to force a future: my past
was that matter; blank air drew
over the blank, fearless stuff .
If I drove deep into fear
of blankness, what indiff erent
principle stopped me, beside
the quiet road? Dry and clear
in the wind, some chance weeds spent
their pitted and wrinkled seed.