“By lust alone we keep the mind alive”

“By lust alone we keep the mind alive”
—Theodore Roethke

I own books I haven’t read for many years:

first sun moving over the spines of unread books.

I count the syllables I’ve just written

for no further reason than to tell the mind to move.

Remember at this moment how the planet turns,

the ocean lowering long swells into its ten thousand coves.

I would count the ten thousand words I’ve never written,

never nudged nor moved them toward their certain doubt.

The ocean’s depth, the planet’s poles, the universe,

the compass needle coming to its place.

Michael Sciarretta

I’ve Left Opened Books

I’ve left opened books on every table of my house

and as I move about I look at one page then another.

The ways of people differ so we must learn

difficult languages. Some words hurt the throat.

I had a wife who treated me well for many years

and a son who broke the oar of our skiff across a stone.

Years have passed. I find differences in the weight of

certain words. Some weigh as little as thirst.

This life. It ends with remembering the sea,

the scattering calls of gulls from coastline rocks.

Michael Sciarretta