In the skull kept on the desk.
In the spider-pod in the dust.
Or nowhere. In milkmaids, in loaves,
Or nowhere. And if Socrates leaves
His house in the morning,
When he returns in the evening
He will find Socrates waiting
On the doorstep. Buddha the stick
You use to clear the path,
And Buddha the dog-doo you flick
Away with it, nowhere or in each
Several thing you touch:
The dollar bill, the button
That works the television.
Even in the joke, the three
Words American men say
After making love. Where’s
The remote? In the tears
In things, proximate, intimate.
In the wired stem with root
And leaf nowhere of this lamp:
Brass base, aura of illumination,
Enlightenment, shade of grief.
Odor of the lamp, brazen.
The mind waiting in the mind
As in the first thing to hand.
(Robert Pinsky)
More Poetry from Robert Pinsky:
Robert Pinsky Poems based on Topics: Love, Mind, Jokes & Humor, Morning, Television, Buddhism, Grief- Essay on Psychiatrists (Robert Pinsky Poems)
- The Hearts (Robert Pinsky Poems)
- An Explanation of America: A Love of Death (Robert Pinsky Poems)
- The Green Piano (Robert Pinsky Poems)
- The Refinery (Robert Pinsky Poems)
- Glory (Robert Pinsky Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, Mind Poems, Morning Poems, Grief Poems, Jokes & Humor Poems, Buddhism Poems, Television PoemsBased on Keywords: enlightenment, milkmaids, proximate