G.E. Patterson

 

“. . . strange to be here . . . .”

                              - John O’Donohue (Fall, 2007)



                                                                   “. . . in a rather special world.”

                                      - Pauline Kael (voiced 12/28/72 in New York City)

 

 

The low light will shift so this will not be

 

Crowds of hangers on spindled iron rails

 

Everything once divided into pieces

 

By time or distance a single perception

 

Then you were leaving but not yet gone

 

Stayed by those things you saw you would soon miss

 

The benediction of caring again

 

That line of sight stretched to frailty and bowed

 

Holding a moment longer in your gaze

 

You were you and there it seems almost endless

 

Though ending would be welcomed more tomorrow

 

Stitched or unstitched from what we were would be

 

It’s just a tender feeling no despair

 

To speak of steadying yourself on that

 

 

                                                           “. . . you saw . . . you were . . . .”

                                                                                       - Jenny Holzer

 

                                                                              “. . . I can feel . . . .”

                                                                                              - Pauline Kael

 

                              “. . . blood, spirit . . . .”

                                                 - Elizabeth Willis (voiced 11/30/11 in NYC)

 

 

~~~~~

A poet and translator, G.E. Patterson is the author of two books, Tug (Graywolf Press) and To and From (Ahsahta Press). He lives and works in Minnesota and in the Pacific Northwest.