either/or

(either) time passes (or)
it stands still (either)
a plague will come
(or) it won't

(either) I will listen
behold mid-winter drowning
(or) misery loves
the patience of water
carving through stone

(either) sharpness comes without effort
(or) the strongest blade is made without steel
(or) I'd throw it all away for a chance at the title
(or) I was diseased
(or) it tasted like salt water
(or) I stopped struggling

(either) I am blind (or) I can see
(or) is that only the dripping I hear
on the outside of my skull
boring a canyon through my memory (or)
my time

(either) there will be sea lions
(or) there won't be

3 comments:

Garth said...

Fantastic! "misery loves the patience of water
carving through stone" - great line - wish I'd written it :)

Harlequin said...

PI-- I was just thinking the same thing!! gorgeous...
Jon--- I so like the concept you are exploring here in these two posts...
I want to go and look at some work I am re-reading on the concept of a system which considers " either/or : both /and " as a both/and... and /or an either/or ( heavy into Lanigan now) ...if you get my drift...
I will be back

timmy said...

doctor either and mister or
forgot the rules but kept the score
they walked along the seashelled shore
and scratched their fluttering heads - what for?

they paused at a bend in the ocean
on one side calm, the other motion
on one side steam, the other sail
an owl rode by atop a whale

mister or and doctor either
paused a while to take a breather
and when they resumed their walk
they had nothing on which to talk