The greatest statement ever made,
the magnum opus  of all things,
is the manifest of desire.

Desire the perpetual, desire
the profound, the everywhere,
texts whistling
in the trees of Ceylon,
blowing up gulf coasts,

desire in the heart that ceases,
still as red coral, made so by it,
and in the heart that remains,
and in the dissolving pool
after the rain and in the rain.

It is the dumb giant gone
to the children’s tea party,
the return of the lava avalanche
and the rarest mountain flowers,
the tsunami that washes out
generations, whole islands.

It is the earthly organism
cooperating with systems
here and beyond the moon,

while we stand, desire itself,
forever awash in bright danger.

From Transversales (BlazeVOX Books, 2013) by Michael Gessner. Copyright © 2013 Michael Gessner. Used with the permission of the publisher.