The final version of the poem below (dated 11/9/96) appeared in -An Avec Sampler #2-, edited by Cydney Chadwick, in 1998.

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Semblance

See the object as a semblance
Moving towards an assigned space
A reason to include confusion
Encompassing, not inhabiting, an idea.
The sketch finally faded into
A comprehensible image. Erase it
And begin again, with color. Will
Is an abstraction. Starting over,
The artist herself vanished into a texture.

Say the object was a hindrance,
Taking in an arranged surface.
A raging to forbid illusion
Engrossing, and infusing, a career.
The catch ultimately involved
An invinceable persuasion. Hold it
Or confront it before you speak. Words
Translate emotion. In reverse,
the philosopher himself evolved into a paradox.

Hear the statement as a structure
Tracing an inevitable release.
A premise for arranging connections
Enhancing, not constructing, a facade.
The switch dissolved completely
Into a forseeable translation. Trace it
And endure it because you can't. Thoughts
Prefigure commands. By analogy
The critic herself emerged as a perception.

Touch the feelings like a zither
Forming a musical entr'acte
A setting that forbids intrusion
Enlarging, or embodying, a mistake.
The crux was amply disclosed
As an arguable transposition: State it
Or suggest it as an event. Dreams
Precede desires. In effect.
The musician himself is an instrument of his melodies.

Proclaim the words as a proposal
Portraying an invisible collapse.
A vessel that transports convictions
Embedding and exporting a delight.
Thus chance came to represent
An unalterable conclusion: Recite it
Or pronounce it as a chant. Songs
Select a voice. So to speak
The language of the poem constructs the poet.