A n n e W a l d m a n : K e e p i n g T h e W o r l d S a f e F o r P o e t r y

N a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 5 : S p e c i a l E d i t i o n

HR HEGNAUER

The Visions

for Anne Waldman

This is the dark room.

These colors. These edges.

I went out wandering the road looking for conversation.

And the road made noises, and the noises made colors again.

Darkness is a vision,

said the visionary.

If I see you pushing a baby carriage,

said the visionary’s mother,

A sudden stab of the imagination,

said the visionary.

But nothing was in this order, and nothing was orderly.

I looked through the neighbor’s kitchen window,

but there wasn’t any order there either.

Someone said the order was on sale,

but then someone sold the store.

Blindness is sweet for temporary voice:

a reflection in the window I never knew I never saw.