—from Book of Mercy, 1984

THE NIGHT COMES ON

I went down to the place where I knew she lay waiting

under the marble and the snow.

I said, “Mother, I’m frightened; the thunder and the lightning;

I’ll never come through this alone.”

She said, “I’ll be with you, my shawl wrapped around you,

my hand on your head when you go.”

And the night came on; it was very calm;

I wanted the night to go on and on,

but she said, “Go back, go back to the world.”

We were fighting in Egypt, when they signed this agreement

that nobody else had to die.

There was this terrible sound and my father went down

with a terrible wound in his side.

He said, “Try to go on, take my books, take my gun,

and remember, my son, how they lied.”

And the night comes on, and it’s very calm;

I’d like to pretend that my father was wrong,

but you don’t want to lie, not to the young.

We were locked in this kitchen; I took to religion,

and I wondered how long she would stay.

I needed so much to have nothing to touch:

I’ve always been greedy that way.

But my son and my daughter climbed out of the water,

crying “Papa, you promised to play.”

And they lead me away to the great surprise;

it’s “Papa, don’t peek, Papa, cover your eyes.”

And they hide, they hide in the world.

Now I look for her always; I’m lost in this calling;

I’m tied to the threads of some prayer.

Saying, “When will she summon me, when will she come to me,

what must I do to prepare?”—

Then she bends to my longing, like a willow, like a fountain,

she stands in the luminous air.

And the night comes on, and it’s very calm,

I lie in her arms, she says, “When I’m gone

I’ll be yours, yours for a song.”

The crickets are singing, the vesper bells ringing,

the cat’s curled asleep in his chair.

I’ll go down to Bill’s Bar, I can make it that far,

and I’ll see if my friends are still there.

Yes, and here’s to the few who forgive what you do,

and the fewer who don’t even care!

And the night comes on; it’s very calm;

I want to cross over, I want to go home,

But she says, “Go back, go back to the world.”

—from Various Positions, 1984

THE EMBRACE

When you stumble suddenly

into his full embrace,

he hides away so not to see

his creature face to face.

You yourself are hidden too,

with all your sins of state;

there is no king to pardon you;

his mercy is more intimate.

He does not stand before you,

he does not dwell within;

this passion has no point of view,

it is the heart of everything.