Lullaby
____________________________________

Of all the kinds of ash to take into account (moonlight
on a lake), to take with you forever (how much of it
you see at night) and fervently wish to continue living

with having been able to do anything regrettable and stupid
as remaining here, always closer to conditions of the cry
than articulating when (between a woman and man) to miss

(without being gone) a time when all things were to hand,
and thus retain (as in a diagram of fire) the closest possible
brilliance holding fast to its consumption. Sad occasion,

that something of a wish remains where so much is.
The sum that passes through had united something
of the wreckage we now see lighted tapers thrown from,

whole former parts concluding with a desire to be
remembered, endured and done with. And yet more
wonderful that it should be so returned to us tomorrow.

 

From Nude With Anything by James D'Agostino, 2006

New Issues Poetry & Prose, Western Michigan University, Dept. of English,
1903 W. Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5331
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