nerve sewn to world

11:02 PM Posted by James Owens



A review of Rachel Galvin's Pulleys & Locomotion in The Pedestal Magazine


Trains Pass, Close But Invisible

But isn’t concealment half of beauty?
The air’s tremble as it ungloves
each finger, sets strands

of web to glint. The uplift of cedars,
free of gravitas, their vault
and nave unencumbered

by the unfinished business of the soul,
its shivering coastlines.
Nearby aspens ring their yellow bells,

hungry, uncertain how to spend their days.
But this may be a failure of the eye,
vertex of nerve sewn to world.

The yellow rustle may not be bells,
but a roomful of readers
turning pages of newspaper.

--Rachel Galvin

7 comments:

Roxana said...

finally! :-)

i will go to read the review, but first my joy that you are back...

i adore the first line. this is perhaps a poem which shows how difficult it is to maintain all along the impossibly high standard set by a first line offered by the gods, as Valery used to say... yet it is a beautiful one, i like it, so many beautiful images...

✿France✿ said...

Bonjour je cherche seulement la traduction
dsl ♪

James Owens said...

Roxana: Indeed, finally! :-)

Ah, the first line ... Don't you already know that this is why I chose this poem to post, thinking of you, guessing ... or even certain ...

Roxana said...

really? :-)

oh

Unknown said...

james, its all in the very first line. as you and roxana both agree.

it's always about what has not been said that pulls me in most deeply.

James Owens said...

Roxana: Desigur, desigur. Este foarte clar :-))

James Owens said...

Claire: Yes, as Roxana (and Valery) says -- sometimes a line comes from the gods, and the challenge is to see if you are up to completing the poem....