Death Comes And Goes But Always Listens

When you see us swarm — rustle of 

wingbeat, collapsed air — your mind 
tries to make us one, a common

intelligence, a single spirit un- 
tethered. You imagine us merely 
searching out the next 

vessel, anything 

that could contain us, as if the hive 
were just another jar. You try 

to hold the ending, this
unspooling, make it either 

zero or many, lack 

or flurry. I was born,
you begin, & already each word 
makes you smaller. Look at this field 

— Cosmos. Lungwort. Utter each
& break 

into a thousand versions of yourself. 

You can't tell your stories fast enough. 
The answer is not one, but also

not two.




Poem by Nick Flynn
Photographer Art Siegel
Song by Burial (click picture)

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When you see us swarm — rustle of wingbeat, collapsed air — your mind tries to make us one, a common intelligence, a single spirit un- tethered. You imagine us merely searching out the next vessel, anything that could contain us, as if the hive were just another jar. You try to hold the ending, this unspooling, make it either zero or many, lack or flurry. I was born, you begin, & already each word makes you smaller. Look at this field — Cosmos. Lungwort. Utter each & break into a thousand versions of yourself. You can't tell your stories fast enough. The answer is not one, but also - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19482#sthash.wm1u8wrG.dpuf

When you see us swarm — rustle of wingbeat, collapsed air — your mind tries to make us one, a common intelligence, a single spirit un- tethered. You imagine us merely searching out the next vessel, anything that could contain us, as if the hive were just another jar. You try to hold the ending, this unspooling, make it either zero or many, lack or flurry. I was born, you begin, & already each word makes you smaller. Look at this field — Cosmos. Lungwort. Utter each & break into a thousand versions of yourself. You can't tell your stories fast enough. The answer is not one, but also - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19482#sthash.wm1u8wrG.dpuf