Berlin, March 2008

To a Giraffe

If it is unpermissible, in fact fatal
to be personal and desirable

to be literal—detrimental as well
if the eye is not innocent—does it mean that

one can live only on top leaves that are small
reachable only by a beast that is tall?—

of which the giraffe is the best example—
the unconversational animal.

When plagued by the psychological,
a creature can be unbearable

that could have been irresistible;
or to be exact, exceptional

since less conversational
than some emotionally-tied-in-knots animal.

    After all
  consolations of the metaphysical
  can be profound. In Homer, existence

  is flawed; transcendence, conditional;
  "the journey from sin to redemption, perpetual."

- Marianne Moore