[Don Moss is the subject of our upcoming documentary on the poet’s life and work. Film previews can be watched here.]
Pro Se
Inside, that highly practiced part of one
Spoke louder with the intent to note
What could be deciphered by focused pure
Repetition, and details might amount,
Clearly point, to woven particulars
Of the moment it directed these words’
Tracing, as charcoal copies that headstone’s
Call to attention of the infrequent
Visitor, of the whole damned repeating
Rebelling wish to dig up, get out, before
Another muffled petition above
Disturbs one’s solitude. All those beggings,
Charming, but little’s come of that to date,
As chumming with pals ate time for even
Less…that wild grass grown thick around the stone
And all that weeding some cousin or paid
Conscripted nephew tasked with the forced
Tribute by his strength of hand to…
Enough!
Science showed pin-holes of light disturb
Needed rest and the rejuvenation
Required, at last, for the Big Light’s return,
For His choosing the comings and goings.
One must be game-ready to make one’s case
To the knowing eye of that Radiant
Juror, and proffer one’s last alibi.
* * *
If you enjoyed Don Moss’s poem, PRO SE, consider supporting our film on a great American poet and get patron-only content on Patreon. This will help the growth of this site, the automachination YouTube channel, and the ArtiFact Podcast. Our video essays include a comparison between Palestine and Liberia, an investigation into the death of American journalist Paul Klebnikov in Moscow, and the role of white guilt in American politics. You can also follow us on Twitter.
More from Don Moss: POEM: Don Moss’s “Filling the Family”, POEM: Don Moss’s “Shared Favor”, Poetry on Film: Don Moss’s “Catoptrics”