How many people does our dead one weigh?
–Pablo Neruda
Our dead one weighs more than all the gods,
More than the drowned ships
Or the alphabets of green sky.
Our dead one is more perfect than a wave;
Softer than all the grace in the world.
More than the many mansions our dead one:
So busy with seeing and knowing
I wish he would not feel his weight,
I would give him a future.
Poetry has so little power…
Mud, oil, piss, ink,
Roots, scars…
Our dead one tumbles about
On the stones of heaven.
O more than silence, more than the running sun…
–Stephen Kuusisto
Planet of the Blind 