TRAJECTORY
Artist
The Alternative Press
Artist
Diane di Prima
Daten.d.
MediumLetterpress on cardstock
DimensionsPaper Size: 12 × 8 in. (30.5 × 20.3 cm)
ClassificationsPrint
Credit LineGift of Gary Eleinko, 2023
Object numberUAC7442.10
DescriptionLetterpress printed poem by Diane di Prima, titled "TRAJECTORY".TRAJECTORY
suffering, sd the Lama, is the greatest blessing
because it reminds us
to seek the disciplines, like:
I don't drink coffee 'cause I once
had an ulcer; and of the four
"continents" of humans, this, the South
Continent (planet Earth) he says
is the best because hardest. So this
1970 must be
an excellent time
when even
the telephone poles scream in agony
when the streets are fire beneath
all our windows,
when even the Bodhisattvas stop their ears.
as if they could.
as if we could, we sit
zazen, retreat to the woods
fast, pray, remember bardos
unwritten, even in Tibet.
they come again.
they have us by the throat.
we break before the image of the future
now no more blood runs from the wounded Earth. our hope
lies in the giant squid that Melville saw, that was
acres across. our hope
lies in the insect world, that the rustling
Buddah of locusts, of ants, tarantulas
of scorpions & spiders
teaching crustacean compassion might extend it
to our species.
(the Hopi say that it's been done before
and plant their last corn before coal mines
destroy the water table) a child of mine
waits to be born in this. Tristesse Tristesse.
Dolor. Now is no star seen
as it was seen by our fathers
now is no color on the hills, no brightness
in the bay. Now do sea creatures rot
with oily fur with oily feathers choke on black sand.
the hungry ghosts like a wind
descend on us.
Published by The Alternative Press, Issue Number 5.
