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Ongoing Presences Have No Past Tense
- Syracuse University Press
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164 Ongoing Presences Have No Past Tense I keep whatever stays as intimate as breath and, like all breathing, of the instant: my father’s aftershave, the whiteness of his shirts, his hair still black at eighty-two, the hats he always wore brim up, the eyes of Cynthia gone sullen with desire, supper in Geneva when a waiter in tuxedo boned the lemon sole as deftly as a surgeon operating on an eye, the day of Kennedy’s murder when all the clocks struck nil and stayed there, my last goodbye to Jane and how we sensed it as we spoke. Compared to these, who cares if Candidate Twice and Candidate Once insult the day with presidential dreams? For them today’s a preface, nothing more. The same holds true for all who bet on dynasties, prognostications, jackpots, or the gold of fools. I trust the body’s unforgettable assurances that know what’s true without discussion or hypocrisy. The teeth with just one bite can tell an apple from a pear. 165 The tongue can savor at a touch what’s salt, what’s sugar. Balsam and skunk cannot confuse the nose. Even in darkness the hand knows silk from gabardine. Whatever makes a sound and what resounds when sound evaporates is music to the ear. The eye does not discriminate, and everything in its complete democracy is ours in perpetuity to keep as near as here and dearer than now. ...