a gentle setting of priorities

   I HAVE FOLDED MY SORROWS                                   





 I have folded my sorrows into the mantle of summer night
 Assigning each brief storm its allotted space in time, 
Quietly pursuing catastrophic histories buried in my eyes, 
And yes, the world is not some unplayed Cosmic Game, 
And the sun is still ninety-three million miles from me, 
And in the imaginary forest, the shingled hippo becomes 
                   the gay unicorn. 
No, my traffic is not with addled keepers of yesterday's 
                  disasters, 
Seekers of manifest disembowelment on shafts of yesterday's 
                  pains. 
Blues come dressed like introspective echoes of a journey. 
And yes, I have searched the rooms of the moon on cold 
                    summer nights. 
And yes,  I have refought those unfinished encounters, 
                      Still,  they remain unfinished.
 And yes, I have at times wished myself something different. 

The tragedies are sung nightly at the funerals of the poet; 
The revisited soul is wrapped in the aura of familiarity.



                                             Bob Kaufman











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