Thoughts in Language
- Thoughts in Language
Ruth Ozeki, poetry
1
If languageis the linedividing usfrom them,then words fail me,and I growmolluscan, orbang my brainagainst its limbiclimits, or apeand parodypoetry evenas I failto articulatethis one sighto you.
2
You say youis the necessaryotherburied atthe heartof every actof languagemaking meutterly whatI amevery timeI openmy mouth. [End Page 618]
3
What is this if notritual? These objectsinherited, significantlyplaced, soundsuntenable,long breathsthe ancestors spokeagainst their deathsand yoursand mine. Breathein time and exhalepraises or,in silence, the holymystery at the coreof all this, so thatwhen I offeryou this stone(for example)you cup yourhand to receivea cool smoothweight. [End Page 619]
ruth ozeki is a writer, Zen priest, and author of three novels, My Year of Meats, All Over Creation, and A Tale for the Time Being. She teaches creative writing at Smith College, where she is the Grace Jarcho Ross 1933 Professor of Humanities.
