ROBERT SUND ~

R O B E R T    S U N D

photograph Mary Randlett,
1967

    

Centuries Go By 

In the world of men
 

centuries go by leaving
 

little trace.

 

A blossom in men is
 

like a cathedral,
 

seldom built.

 

It must be that in schools
 

when the blackboard is being erased,
 

under the sweeping hand,
    

     some words
    

     disappear forever.

Shi Shi Beach 1991

Ink Bottle


 
1

 
Somewhere

inside this ink bottle

there is a starry sky!


 
2


Don't keep the lid on

your ink bottle

too long.
Seattle, late 1960s






Summer Solstice


 
It's been a busy day.

First,

one hummingbird, then

another!


For Allen Engle






Ten By Twelve


My shack is ten by twelve.

    Two bottles of saké

    under the bed.

    Hot soup on the stove,

    and bread in the oven.


My auto harp tuned up and ready.


When friends come rowing up,

how big this shack will get!


For Erik Ambjor

The Table I Keep This is the table I keep. This is my warm spot in the world. A table to rest my ink bottle on. A table with other tables inside it. The ink wanting to be heard. Ink whose body is a river, whose fullness is to be joined with other waters. The ocean, rolling landward comes home one river at a time, cresting and breaking into song. Each day at my table I hear the heartsong     and the lament, as one by one the rivers come home. April 1991, Taos

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