Gus Blaisdell Collected

Poem: "Omoide No Tsukimi"

∙ 172 ∙ Poem ■ Omoide No Tsukimi for Ronald Johnson 1935–1998 It rises to self-awareness Horizon that is always with us Black north’s direction Risen from the belly nightsky Phantom blot, inkblack Heian hair Coiled black pythoness On moonless nights Monk sleeves trailed through wet grasses It hangs eternal there, never sets or climbs Fulgent Moon 2, lightning struck through Lightning flash Then back to black What seams this darklight But black holds back, insists At backbehindness it sustains Unreflecting primordial companion All phases of the moon condense Moon 2 takes breathing, animates itself Without horizon other than itself, irregular oval of all moons Even when full or crescent sickle thin slice on either end “omoide no tsukimi” ∙ 173 Blindspot At last Narcissus lies faceless Bottom of unsounded pond Face buried in a silken muck Thankfully in reflection I am dark to myself Tarbaby reflections of Moon 2 Glitters in the total void Senses steep in unsounded dark Where darkbather mind And sunbather eyes intersect The heart is black and madder The soul is fishscale black Thunder underneath the under Heart and soul begin a fisted journey To the behindblackness At our backs we always feel Always back there behind it all From head to heel black chrysalis Hangman’s hood or shiny bodybag. —gus blaisdell Moon 2 is an all black painting by Allan Graham. My Japanese title means remembering moonviewing. The line beginning “Thunder . . .,” set in italic, varies a line from a manuscript, “The Imaginary Menagerie,” by the visionary poet Ronald Johnson. [Gus’s endnote.] ...