Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist

1.

On this grey

midday the snow

had turned to rain by noon

soon softly mounded

drifts grew heavy

6a.

while in this room our passions

settled like milk in tea

the moon behind its cloudy sea

whispered its tautology

everything everything that is

that is that is is every-

thing that is the case

2.

and you and you,

yes you you you

to me you are the case.

3a.

the house was cold

and we each sat

in blankets wrapped in separate thought

but this cannot go on

and so almost athletically

we stirred these strings

like pieces of a game these words

had their own form but were to us

as something more

5.

i say, unmoving, "dear,

i'm going

to go

out"

4.

all the curtained evening stars

ripple like points of light

upon the surface of a lake

better yet, this river that circles

like a huge and mythic harmony

the sounding of the intervals

that measure the space between ourselves

6b.

when we pull back from it

then how we meet our fate

rainspun span of afternoon

how the emptiness between the snow

comforts us unknown

3b.

and to me you are the case

the world the world the world

what world?

of thorn and rock and brae and fen

ox and field and fowl and glen

how will we know what is the case?

7.

finally i get up and to the door

from the threshold see the night is clear

how high sounds single liminal note

walk, snow, and tree to the finial twig

all ice-sheathed shine--

this sudden rush of dormant strain

turn, turn, and close the door again.