The past is inevitable.
…………—Delmore Schwartz, Poet
Hadn’t Thought of it Like That
Though likely, tomorrow is
not set
This day’s loose ends twist in the wind
like kite tails jerked in blue at the end of present’s string
becoming codas no one can sing—
the future’s not something on which you should bet
Only Now sings real arias
If you stand on the bridge in the middle of town
where the river parts at abutments in bow waves
—splits as the bridge’s foot in the stream
becomes a ship’s prow plowing north to nowhere
and gives the early crimson sky
an oscillating rendition of itself in its otherwise slick mirror
you catch a glimpse of your bobbing head
in flames of pleated clouds
You are its aria
As you turn and walk off you get
that the past is inevitable
and set
.
Jim Culleny
12/17/15
.
Photo: The Bridge of Flowers
by Martin Yaffee