Thinking Thought
“Oh, soul,” I sometimes—often—still say when I’m trying to convince
………. my inner self of something.
“Oh, soul,” I say still, “there’s so much to be done, don’t want to stop
………. to rest now, not already.
“Oh, soul,” I say, “the implications of the task are clear, why procras-
……….. tinate, why whine?”
All the while I know my struggle has to do with mind being only some-
……….. times subject to the will,
that other portion of itself which manages to stay so recalcitrantly, ob-
……….. stinately impotent.
“Oh, soul, come into my field of want, my realm of act, be attentive to
………. my computations and predictions.”
But as usual soul resists, as usual soul retires, as usual soul’s old act of
………. dissipation and removal.
Oh, the furious elusive unities of want, the frail, false fusions and dis-
………. cursive chains of hope.
C.K. Williams
from C.K. Williams Selected Poems
The Noonday Press, 1994