A point is that which has no part. A line is a breadthless length. A man in his life is a point on a line: That which has no part on a breadthless length. The far horizon is a line made of vanishing points, Near collision of funneling views, Flat as a corpse's EKG. The line to my back Is a heart attack of granite and ice, A tumble of similar opposites. The opposite of a mountain Is the ocean or the sky Or an island in the ocean Or an island in the sky Or a thorn on the island, growing. And what regards the reeling firmament With sympathy? If the ocean has an island, If the point has no part, I'd say it's a green thorn in the heart. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MOTHER TO SON by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES TO THE UNKNOWN EROS: BOOK 2: 7. TO THE BODY by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE BLIGHTERS by SIEGFRIED SASSOON MAUD MULLER by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER TO A LADY TO ANSWER DIRECTLY WITH YEA OR NAY by THOMAS WYATT ALARIC AT ROME by MATTHEW ARNOLD SUNRISE AND SUNSET: 2. SUNSET by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) SUMMING UP ITALY; INSCRIBED TO INTELLIGENT PUBLICS OUT OF IT by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |