New Year

In celebration of the new year, I offer this poem by Kenneth Rexroth:

Lute Music

The Earth will be going on a long time
Before it finally freezes;
Men will be on it; they will take names,
Give their deeds reasons.
We will be here only
As chemical constituents—
A small franchise indeed.
Right now we have lives,
Corpuscles, Ambitions, Caresses,
Like everybody had once—

Here at the year's end, at the feast
Of birth, let us bring to each other
The gifts brought once west through deserts—
The precious metal of our mingled hair,
The frankincense of enraptured arms and legs,
The myrrh of desperate, invincible kisses—
Let us celebrate the daily
Recurrent nativity of love,
The endless epiphany of our fluent selves,
While the earth rolls away under us
Into unknown snows and summers,
Into untraveled spaces of the stars.

From Sacramental Acts, by Kenneth Rexroth

Photo by Well Lucio

Comments

[Marcus]

Thank you.

[David Clark]

A first rate poem
To begin the new year,
A fine opening salvo,
A palpable hit!

A very happy New Year to you.

David

[nathan]

thanks much. happy new year!

[Ted Biringer]

Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.

Peace,
Ted

[Barry Briggs]

Thanks, everyone! Best wishes for "twenty-ten!"

Barry

[jill i]

Stunning!

jill

[Ken Knabb]

Many more Rexroth poems (and other writings) are online at http://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth

Enjoy!