Friday, 22 April 2011

In the Jungle Large


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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/KakamegaForest.jpg

Kakamega Forest, Kenya: photo by Doron, August 1999




The journey in darkness has a trivial jargon
For the cans of black coffee and ears like sprigs
Of an intelligent listening flower

This agitation is a kind of heavy wood
That you could hold a candle to
And never alter its unendurableness

There is nothing to do about voyaging
Fears except to jerk their brilliance
Out ahead of you like a rushlight like this

But what is illumined in the jungle large
Is a girl in narrow white sashes
Seated in your room at your writing desk


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Afternoon_sun_in_Mamfe%2C_Cameroon.jpg

Afternoon sun, Mamfe, Cameroon: photo by Hans Kylberg, 31 January 2003

TC: In the Jungle Large (Dark Continent), Paris, April 1966, from The Sand Burg, 1966
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous23 April 2011 at 03:35

    There is nothing to do about voyaging
    Fears except to jerk their brilliance
    Out ahead of you like a rushlight like this

    I was going to try to get back into bed and try for a little more sleep, but finding this was more enjoyable and helpful. The journey in darkness to some illumination and comfort was one worth taking.

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  2. TC23 April 2011 at 04:34

    Curtis, thank you so much for rescuing this one from oblivion.

    I'm always going to try to get back into bed and try for a little more sleep, too, but it never works.

    The journey in darkness to illumination and comfort, in the present case, is nonetheless much more pleasantly attempted in company with a faraway friend.

    A long journey nonetheless.

    Many obscure cats coming in and out of doors and windows to and from the jungle large nocturnally. Where is that rushlight now that we all need it so.

    Today, here, the journey may involve either carpentry... or rain... or, with our luck, both, then neither.

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