from “Periscope”
If you remember cosmology
there is nothing to stop time
running all the way to zero
Lying up or even lying down
I will just wiggle my hand to
remind you I was timorous
Copyright © 2017 by Wayne Miller. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on July 7, 2017, by the Academy of American Poets.
“The title ‘Periscope’ is a nod to Paul Thek’s oil on canvas with artist’s frame and picture light. The ‘Foreword’ of my new book Debths includes an entry from one of his notebooks: ‘Secret Paintings / the object of which is not / to be seen // He made a secret out / of what no one / wanted anyway.’”
—Susan Howe
Susan Howe
Susan Howe is the author of several poetry collections, including Debths (New Directions, 2017). She served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2001 to 2006.