(Photo
of Alan Cohen)
Matters
The most important
things are the simplest
And must be learned as
often as every day
I blame fear
But feel only lazy and
disinclined, forgetful
When I close my eyes
Concentrate
They seem as near and
obvious as toes
But then I donŐt want
what I want
DonŐt want what I have
DonŐt want what I know,
knew, expect to know
Must find another new
path
Go back
And fix
What cannot be found,
change, mean, grow, or be
Broken, recalled,
forgotten
Losing Is Everything II
What remains obscure
Is a living body
It holds its destiny
teeming within:
Colors, descants,
perfumes implicit
Ripe and shimmering and
warm
Immodesty prospers
during life
Proffers itself a slice
at a time
Its beauties products
Its romance fame
Spread thin, consumed,
bones
The
Mind
An instrument
We can only tune
By senseless instinct
With no notion
Of goal
Medium
Magnitude
Or capacity
To see congruence
Define
Explore
Remake
To dock with
circumstance
Affect
Others
And transmit
Joy, longing
Sorrow, anger
Home, loss
Transcendence
No hint
No clue
No promise
No way
No word
Wonder
Winter
Outside/Inside
The waitress brings our
lunch
She is not a waitress
But a woman who works
as a waitress
The music of the
fountain
Soothes our ruffled
spirits
We love the graceful
water
How it flirts with
gravity
We do not want to know
about
The repulsion
Electricity
Vacuum
Pump
Hidden in the stone
Like pipes in a
building
Naming the Flowers,
Birds and Trees Whose Names I Cannot Find or Recall
My life is two thirds
over
I have no need of
convention
ŇThat was to come later
When life had begun to
go so fast
That accepting would
take the place
Of knowing and believingÓ
—Faulkner, Light
in August
Give them my name
No not mine
The names I choose for
them
© Alan Cohen
Bio: Alan
Cohen/Poet first/Then PCMD, teacher, manager/Living a full varied life/To
optimize time and influence/Deferred publication, wrote/Average 3 poems a
month/For 60 years/Beginning now to share some of my discoveries/Married to
Anita 40 years/in Eugene, OR, these past 10 years