Directions, and: About Necessity, and: The Ice
Rent from DeepDyve- Directions, and: About Necessity, and: The Ice
Directions
In my scouting days, we always hada lesson on survival when lostin the woods.
We starred our way to true northfrom the erring needle of the compass.We measured the height of a treefrom an angle drawn between a pencil's lengthand thumb and forefinger stretched ninety degrees.
But nobody in our troop knew the jungle,the desert,or how to stay the course whenthe green lid of a sarcophagusclosed around them at Khe Sanhor the tiger bite of a sandstormpierced their blue-blocker eyegearin the run from the border up into Baghdad. [End Page 150]
About Necessity
I am mired in the same difficultiesI have faced for years. All the while, necessity,who is the mother of invention, scratchesaway at the door. I wonder
who her father is? Chance (likeChauncy the gardener)? Imperative(categorical or not)? Eros?Thanatos? I'm looking
out on our balcony through slidingglass doors that keepout the sound of the freeway/galleriashopping center, at a Jasmine
plant who died backto a stub after years of generousscent-filled evenings/mornings,with blossoms on saucers in the house,
and has now revivedand throws out branches, vines,tendrils, green leaves like the pastnever happened. What drove
the roots to attempt againa life above the surfaceof the big clay containerthat held them like hope
holds an infant? [End Page 151]
The Ice
After Chihuly
In Aguas Caliente you find no refrigerators.Instead I have the coolness of the lake.
By its shore, on a rise of St. Augustine, I confess my blindnessTo the Loons, who accuse me from their blue-ice pedestals.
The Ice rises from cold depths, ancient, sunless, seeking air.Why won't it melt, dissolve, like these few weeks have done?
Soon I will return to my plate-glass cage. This bird will never know.I can see it now: remembered sunlight, desk fountain, an empty glass.
David Rossi received his PhD in English from the University of Houston, later completing an MFA in creative writing at Antioch University, Los Angeles. He currently serves as program manager for transitional studies and instructional support in reading and writing at Lone Star College–CyFair, where he developed the continuing education course "Writers Circle."
