ACCOUNT OF MY DAYS
Sequence: 3
STEPPING OUTDOORS AFTER WAKING
looking at the almost light
half the sky clear half cloudy
remembering how at the reading
the dying man listened and slept
listened and slept
and still I felt
he missed nothing
open a door close a door
the door is still a door
the outside and inside
remain where they are
and he for whom the door is made
is the same whether he goes straight through
or pauses with a hand on the knob
considering
the brain has a mind of its own
sorry thing set in the ground of its flesh
to flourish as best it can
in the world it imagines bearing down on it
and bearing it up
when the mind sleeps
the world that made it sleeps with it
it is in a world of clouds
denser towards the core
but still only clouds
with nothing to rain on
but the thing planted there
made of clouds
silver in all its branches
shining back what
shone on it