Poem of The Day

The Endless

(Timothy Donnelly, 1969)

 

I saw a yellow butterfly
flying
in my opinion
the wrong way, flying across
the sound
to Connecticut
I saw a cormorant
oily-looking
flying
close to the sea’s surface
precisely
as I floated on it on
my back in
the attitude of the crucifixion
minerals in my body
in
conversation with
the minerals of the sea
about the sun
how can I possibly
add
to what’s already been said
so well
by the ancients
and said with
an austerity I’ll never
know
it is an honor to take
a backseat to the ancients
who knew how
I was a fat white fish
dissolving
under the sold-out stadium sun
like a god
but like a god
I could live through anything.