But I don’t know
their names—rust
worked under each
wing like sweat
lunettes; synthetic
silk crest stitched
to a white head;
small gears completely
grease preening
ash, mechanical
sheen of oil,
charcoal—only
this description eats
and screams
squanders territory.
What use is it
to see? Faith
the world is knowable?
There are ways
to understand
and none is living
or lyric, limp
or stutter.
If I send a letter
(this sudden utter
other means
than speech)
when I don’t
know to love
language other
than to run
a larceny
all machine and god-
likeness, gear
and hinge, pocket
watch, tie-
pin, money clip and wing
tip, my father’s
impostor I am
then, my words
a mere guess at
what isn’t. It isn’t
mastery I’m after.
It’s certain
other terms
than my own
I wait for. For
instance : birds
without names
fly anyway
ceaselessly
up the ladder
cast from visible
to invisible—is it
it only seems
there’s a way
to know the way?
From Sight Map (University of California Press, 2009) by Brian Teare. Copyright © 2009 by Brian Teare. Used with the permission of the author.