variations on a line by Neruda


I can no longer bear to leave a shadow.
I will pause before the shadow’s flat shape.
I want to learn how it casts. The man,

I will grow into translucent glass,
and I will trail clarity on the dry hillsides.
I can no longer bear to leave a shadow.

Chinquapin and Chaparral will magnify where I pass.
Like a prism alters light, I aspire to reflect.
I want to learn. How it casts the man

into paranoia to fade into black! I’ll lay down rainbows
and then pick the colors up behind me.
I can no longer bear to leave a shadow.

Or I’ll become a tuned resonance
in the throats of starlings. The music!
I want to learn how it casts. The man

is an obstruction. I should erase the inky
stick figure from the barren field.
I can no longer bear to leave a shadow.
I want to learn how it casts the man.

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