MN8                                                                         —Andrew Joron


Stand before a mirror, & you become
            a member of another world.
Stand behind a name, & the world
            becomes a member of itself.

So, make a map of all the eyes you’ve ever met.
Find a path through the mirrors of Thine Others.

            Continuity is the essence of the abyss.

            To radiate, leave it all behind.
To emanate, stay connected to the source.

Wave-
           phantom, the ship of state—
           who cares? who carries? who cures?

Write your answer here, on the most
            reflective surface.

Dear observer—as space expands, “never”
            is misspelled as “nerver.”

So the mind is blinded by perception.
So reading is reanimation of the dead.


Andrew Joron

Andrew Joron is the author of The Absolute Letter, a collection of poems published by Flood Editions (2017). Joron’s previous poetry collections include Trance Archive: New and Selected Poems (City Lights, 2010), The Removes (Hard Press, 1999), Fathom (Black Square Editions, 2003), and The Sound Mirror (Flood Editions, 2008). Joron teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University.

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