A Poem To Close Your Eyes
A poem to close your eyes
"I close my eyes and see a flock of birds. The vision lasts a second, or perhaps less; I am not sure how many birds I saw. Was the number of birds definite or indefinite? The problem involves the existence of God. If God exists, the number is definite, because God knows how many birds I saw. If God does not exist, the number is indefinite, because no one can have counted. In this case I saw fewer than ten birds (let us say) and more than one, but did not see nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, or two birds. I saw a number between ten and one, which was not nine, eight, seven, six, five, etc. That integer—not-nine, not-eight, not-seven, not-six, not-five, etc.—is inconceivable. Ergo, God exists."
Jorge Luis Borges
I
My name is Shannan Gilbert,
as the night befalls,
an angel or a creature.
I smell like pricked stems of roses,
silently gnawing in your ears.
My name is Shannan Gilbert,
backless,
flipping leaves
stuck in my throat,
they rattle,rattle, rattle
like a strange broken toy.
II
The dagger of the day dazzles
pierced pale lids dangling in the balance,
attentive, the birds stopped their crying,
light and shadow.
My name is Shannan Gilbert,
an escort gifted with an angel's voice.
wide-eyed, what I?
My name is Shannon Gilbert,
-envoy-
the birds have taken flight.
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