Visiting the Oracle
It’s dark on purpose
so just listen.
Maybe I inherit a jar, maybe a pot,
maybe nothing. Only this
loose end of a voice
rising to meet you.
It sounds like water.
Don’t think about that.
Let your servants climb back down the mountain
by themselves. I’ll listen.
I’ll tell you everything
I discover, but I can’t
say what it means.
Someone will always
assure you of the best of fortunes,
but you know better.
And keep this in mind: The answer
reveals itself in time
like the clue that fits
perfectly and explains everything
after the crime has been solved..
Then you will say: I should have know.
It was there all along
and never even concealed,
like the story of the letter
overlooked by the thief because
it had not been hidden.
That’s the trick, of course.
You don’t need me.
.
by Lawrence Raab
from The Collector of Cold Weather
Ecco Press, 1976
.