THE GATE

Excerpt XXVIII

V

At that exact moment the huge harp, leaning softly

against the breast of the chimney, was heard from

            the roof,

as if the chimney with its black peplum was

            the harpist; and

the harp, its sound, and the chimney were clearly

           visible

and with five flashes at the edge of each note they

            multiplied into comets

criss-crossing long white ribbons and

a light small woman’s kerchief floating across

the horizon, just a few inches over the harp.

Maria’s candle was out. Helen wasn’t laughing

anymore; cigarettes were burning on the ashtray.

Then suddenly the chords were heard breaking

one by one, noose after noose, small nooses fluttered

in the air, catching head and hand.

Be careful, he said, don’t look only upward, don’t

listen only to upward. The saw knows better;

the same movement forward and backward, it cuts

the tree, the second plank in the needed size: table,

           bench, bed

where we lie to make love, to give birth, to sleep;

the law of usefulness, he said, discontinued

           continuance; lasting knowledge.

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Τι σημαίνει η «θεωρία του τραπεζιού και του μενού» του Μπλίνκεν;