ANCIENT WALLS
for Stan Hodson
"The association of the lame man & the blind one
is one of the most famous in Sankya literature."
Suryanarayana Sastri, Sankhyakarika
Moved in finally
& the damn light switches
on the walls all around
this otherwise elegant house
(just almost just perfect)
are a good four inches below
where
all life long
yr. led to expect them
& so fumble I do
in the darkevery damn night
like a blind man's
sliding along ancient
walls in the light
reveals
his condition.
—Neil Nelson The Omen & The Omega
for Lee Nichol You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.
—Bob Dylan Disappointed at the nonappearance
of last year's special shapes class winner
that much vaunted hot air balloon "Golden Eagle"
we drove Albuquerque north along a gondola high
ribbon of ponderosa pine mountain road
until off to the side & just be-
low I descry sitting stock-still
& seemingly tethered that other
feathered specialty you so named "Little Man!"
who eyes unblinking ascends now
suddenly hiding nothing &
as his Aztec serpentine
talon-gripped dinner
drops writhing a moment
through air to earth
Los Alamos
(UUNIVAC/uniquacks! &/or
Live Pinpoint Doppler Max)
we dream plumed visions
ancient formulae released
incantations bloodthirsty
Hawk/Serpent symbols
algorithms/equations
(To wit: nothing matters that is & is
cd. symbolically be, theoretically, we)
or so the dream goes &
seen or unseen some-
thing down on the road
(Dateline: NM 8-09-99
Los Alamos/Nagasaki)
goes with it. --Neil Nelson | 
