Shadow and Light: The Transitory
Summer, 2004
Simon Perchik
*
Along this trail the ripples
--I climb as if somewhere
a shore unfolding
and in this emptiness
my heart too sends out the pulse
stars have always answered
--from my heart each breath
the wave it once was, lapping
what would become this hillside
and the sea at last lie down
--on this night each year my knees
take on an almost forgotten heartbeat
step by step till the dirt
flows on in darkness
--it will empty --even in daylight
each shadow weeping for the dark sea
it can not leave --even the sun
with its great sweep
can't wash away its memory
--each year a night
more caring than little by little
alone, far from all the others --a night
all that's left from the sea
still trickling: my breath
drop by drop and this trail
reaching down for stars and far off.