The Call
"No" is the wildest word we consign to Language.
EMILY DICKINSON
Come, I'll give you everything: every glory,
the rarest and most beautiful of seeds
so as to plant more glories, flowers
that will explode from those seeds
and then bloom, poisonous and sweet
with an aftertang of delight and loathing —
look at this one, so dull, and yet so bright.
Even the leaves that will at last
all fall, in the guise of leaves,
more cutting than piano wire,
cruel, piercing music, splint-
ers of gold and death — all yours.
Yes, all you need ( how easy! ) is to say yes.
_______________
Ana Luisa Amaral
WORLD
translated by Margaret Jull Costa
New Directions, 2023
