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...NOEL: CHRISTMAS EVE, 1913 by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES TO WILLIAM WORDSWORTH by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE CANE: NOVEMBER COTTON FLOWER by JEAN TOOMER PIONEERS! O PIONEERS! by WALT WHITMAN THIS IS NOT I by FRANCES DAVIS ADAMS THE ROSE by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH LOOKING FORWARD by LAWRENCE ALMA-TADEMA |