What shall I say to you in departing?
Or should it just be a gesture? A shrug
of the shoulders? A waving of both hands,
like some crazy fellow? Or a deep bow,
as if I were playing the fool again?
No, it must be words because we are poets,
and we know words are breath, the very stuff
of life. Words are always an incipient
silence, as their sounds quickly decay but
never to disappear completely: there is
always the tiniest iota of sound forever
fading into the air we breathe.
I DEPART AS AIR... I SHAKE MY WHITE LOCKS
THE RUNAWAY SUN,
I EFFUSE MY FLESH IN EDDIES AND DRIFT IT
IN LACY JAGS.
i BEQUEATH MYSELF TO THE DIRT TO GROW FROM
THE GRASS I LOVE,
IF YOU WANT ME AGAIN LOOK FOR ME UNDER
YOUR BOOT SOLES.
FALLING TO FETCH ME AT FIRST KEEP ENCOURAGED,
MISSING ME IN ONE PLACE SEARCH ANOTHER,
I STOP SOMEWHERE WAITING FOR YOU.
Fabrizio, my new and very old friend,
we too....
What a superb write. So full of emotional intensity. The pain of a farewell is depicted so beautifully. I agree that words work better than gestures...Words are breath, the very stuff of life...so beautifully put. I BEQUEATH MYSELF TO THE DIRT TO GROW FROM THE GRASS I LOVE IF YOU WANT ME AGAIN LOOK FOR ME UNDER YOUR BOOT SOLES A great poetic delight these lines give. A perfect 10.
I've added your verse (through my comment on Walt Whitman Visits..) to the page they belong.. :)
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
No better words to describe the awe, wonder and ethos this poem evokes.The words of poet saying farewell- - - - 'Words are always an incipient silence, as their sounds quickly decay but never to disappear completely: there is always the tiniest iota of sound forever fading into the air we breathe. I DEPART AS AIR... I SHAKE MY WHITE LOCKS THE RUNAWAY SUN, I EFFUSE MY FLESH IN EDDIES AND DRIFT IT IN LACY JAGS. i BEQUEATH MYSELF TO THE DIRT TO GROW FROM THE GRASS I LOVE, IF YOU WANT ME AGAIN LOOK FOR ME UNDER YOUR BOOT SOLES. FALLING TO FETCH ME AT FIRST KEEP ENCOURAGED, MISSING ME IN ONE PLACE SEARCH ANOTHER, I STOP SOMEWHERE WAITING FOR YOU'