NAMES FOR TIME, NAMES FOR TIME, long v. after Charles Simic’s Stone

Names for time, insufferable on human terms
100,000 years. How does a stone
measure time and distance?
I've always wanted to see Lascaux and Altamira
(look up!). The first Greek goddess,
the great mother, was not Greek, but a meteorite
that struck the earth with sudden impact.

10/1988

NAMES FOR TIME, long v.

     — after Charles Simic

Insufferable on human terms, 

small durable objects gathered in green seas. 

They say that no two crystals are exactly alike. 

If I could go inside a stone I would find 

fractals opening doors into new worlds.

Small, base molecules always in a hurry, 

bouncing off time as if it were repeatable. 

Who really knows what’s inside a tiger’s heart,

or a stone? 

Names for time, insufferable on human terms, 

100,000 years. How does a stone measure time and distance? 

I have always wanted to see the painted caves 

of Lascaux and Altamira. Remember to look up. 

The first Greek goddess, 

the great mother was a meteorite 

that struck the earth with sudden impact.

10/16/1988