SageGreenJournal.org
voices out of the West, mostly poetry, personal to planetary
photo Linde Waidhofer: less than ideal conditions, but still. . . .
Al Zolynas
Escondido, California
Al Zolynas has published four books of poetry:The New Physics, Wesleyan U Press, 1979;Under Ideal Conditions, Laterthanever Press, 1994 (San Diego Book Award, Best Poetry, 1994);The Same Air, Intercultural Studies Forum, 1997; andNear and Far, Garden Oak Press, 2019.With Fred Moramarco, he co-edited two anthologies,Men of Our TimeandThe Poetry of Men’s Lives(both from U of Georgia Press). Retired from academia, he practices and teaches Zen in Escondido, California where he lives with his wife and cat.
Under Ideal Condiitons
say in the flattest part of North Dakota
on a starless moonless night
no breath of wind
a man could light a candle
then walk away
every now and then
he could turn and see
the candle burning
seventeen miles later
provided conditions remained ideal
he could still see the flame
somewhere between the seventeenth and eighteenth mile
he would lose the light
if he were walking backwards
he would know the exact moment
when he lost the flame
he could step forward and find it again
back and forth
dark to light light to dark
what's the place where the light disappears?
where the light reappears?
don't tell me about photons
and eyeballs
reflection and refraction
don't tell me about one hundred and eighty-six thousand
miles per second and the theory of relativity
all I know is that place
where the light appears and disappears
that's the place where we live