Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


MONOCLES by ALFRED FRANCIS KREYMBORG

First Line: REDUCING THE UNIVERSE
Last Line: I PREFER TO TRY THE OTHER.
Subject(s): EYES; GOD; UNIVERSE;

Reducing the universe
to one round view,
and terming it religion,
is truly beyond my capacity:
compressing one's view,
like a hoop,
for other folk to be whipped through --
squeezing the rim so tight
that not even a gnat
could manage the hole --
requires more strength
than I have the pincers for:
beholding what one is pleased
to call, God,
and greeting Him exclusively
through the monocle
of one's own righteousness --
that eye
suffers astigmatism;
I prefer to try the other.



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