Not only in the dark
for Joe Eck
The Nicotiana is a paler green
not only behind a hedge, not only in the dark.
You can hear it with your eyes closed.
It’s louder than reaching anyone else, talking,
for example, to the piano lessons one was given.
What to say about words, what to annotate
in the mispronunciation as a forgone conclusion.
In some dreams we know what we have to hold
onto.
The poem doesn’t stretch as far as sound, the distant ticking of a bird,
and grief is merciless.
No doubt the color may also vary as in words like disproof.
