And Reason Remains Undaunted

Author(s): Anne Carson

Source: The Threepenny Review, No. 88 (Winter, 2002), p. 29
Published by: Threepenny Review
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4385101 .
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And Reason Remains Undaunted
Searchingfor things sublime I walked up into the muddy windy big hills
behind the town where trees riot according to their own laws and
one may
observe so many methods of moving green-under, over, around, across,
up the back, higher, fanning, condensing, rifled, flat in the eyes, as if
pacing a
cell, like a litter of grand objects, minutely, absorbed, one leaf at a time,
ocean-furious, nettle-streaked,roping along, unmowed, fresh out of pools,
clear as Babel,
such a tower, scattered through the heart, green in the strong sense, dart-
shook, crownly, carryingthe secrets of its own heightening on
up, juster than a shot, gloomier than Milton or even his king of terrors,
idol in its dark parts, as a word coined to mean "storm" (of love) or
"waving lines"
(architectural),scorned, clean, with blazing nostrils, not a servant, not
rapid, rapid.
-Anne Carson
Berkeley Dogs
The dogs look human in their Volvos,
Or so I discover as I walk through the parking lot of Longs Drugs,
Swinging my small purchase of antacids and vanilla ice cream.
All the dogs sit in their rightful place, the windows cracked.
Their mugs convey the look of "No, I'm not what you think."
I call, "Hey, boy" to one pup who turns its head away, disgusted.
I call, "Hey, lassie" to a golden retriever.To make her point,
She places her paws onto the steering wheel.
These dogs don't bark. Their eyes form words that say, "Go, away."
I don't. When I look into the window of one car,
The dog busies itself checking the odometer for the next oil change.
How did this happen, this evolution in less than thirty years?
The pooches of my own childhood street fetched and frolicked,
Fought themselves into bloody rags. They copulated in fury,
As we kids hollered, amazed by the pushpush action in the middle
Of the street. These Berkeleydogs practice their Zen
With the feng shui of water bowls set half-in, half-out of shadows.
These dogs know how to roll with Aikido.
They have lawyers, too, when divorce occurs
And resolution counselors when a fuss rises up between different breeds.
They know their rights.
The moon has no influence on these canines.
And moon now rides high over the parking lot of Longs Drugs.
By this light I see a dog in every parked car reading the Wall StreetJournal.
I'm still where I always was, a male dog with Playboys in the bottom drawer.
They have shifted from the back seat, to the passenger's seat,
To finally the driver'sseat. When one set
Of owners-excuse me, companions-returns from the store,
They get into the back. It's no dog's life these days.
The dog gazes in the rearview mirrorto see if its companions
Are buckled in, for they share in wills and deeds.
The Volvo starts with a shiver, leaves cautiously.
The companions smile at each other. They take up leashes in their mouths,
Sniffing for the future of cut grass on a warm summer night.

-Gary Soto

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