The Figured Surface
Incise the stone.
Imprint the clay.
Stain papyrus intelligibly
if not intelligently.
Memory can't be trusted
without reminders and notes
whose symbols
must be remembered.
Number the herd. Number
the baskets after harvest.
Note the reappearance of the moon
after its short absence.
Record the victory, lament the defeat.
Sing in ink across the page
of the body's beauty and terror.
Map where monsters be.
Show with calculations
the equivalence of mass and energy,
the curvature of time.
Distill your understanding
to images and signs.
Trust that someone afterward
will read and learn
what you found meaningful.
Imprint the clay.
Stain papyrus intelligibly
if not intelligently.
Memory can't be trusted
without reminders and notes
whose symbols
must be remembered.
Number the herd. Number
the baskets after harvest.
Note the reappearance of the moon
after its short absence.
Record the victory, lament the defeat.
Sing in ink across the page
of the body's beauty and terror.
Map where monsters be.
Show with calculations
the equivalence of mass and energy,
the curvature of time.
Distill your understanding
to images and signs.
Trust that someone afterward
will read and learn
what you found meaningful.
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Author's Note
From "Archaeology", a book-length collection of poems in progress.
Other stories by Gary Hardaway
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And it gets harder and harder. Old age is not for sissies. *
"Trust that someone afterward
will read and learn
what you found meaningful.*
I'll think about this for some time.
Memory can't be trusted
without reminders and notes
whose symbols
must be remembered.
Enjoyed every section but especially,
Number the herd. Number
the baskets after harvest.
Note the reappearance of the moon
Happy to hear there is a book-in-progress.
Sing in ink across the page
of the body's beauty and terror.
Damn, I wish I'd written that line. The entire poem is fabulous. A favorite, for sure. *
Excellent poem, Gary.
*
Another bit of you ingested. *