Juliet Patterson

ODE


Contained
in a cavity of the Orbit

securely protected from injury

makes no sequence of event makes
no syllable of Death

except the smaller size
These hurry to a sphere & show
& end

loose as a swallow's torso

Wedlock is shyer

Named with a tongue
& repeated


               *


Crisis is sweet whiplash
tongue

against the crystalline lens

When the eyelids are opened
Elliptical space is left

between their margins

angles
which correspond to the junction

of the upper & lower

Lids

At the commencement

The healed heart shows its shallow
scar

turns your thoughts without a whip

With confidential moan


               *


So goes the world.
It passes & we stay.

The iris & its contractile
curtain

radiating toward the pupil

Plain as the ego chastened

The sleeping

To wane without disparagement
in the disassembling hue

Size circumscribes, has no room
for petty furniture

or Wedding

The Eye in its Orbit
in position

to ensure the most extensive range

of sight

Swallows filling an empty
chimney


TYPO 6