I’ve known abandonment because I’ve known
and loved the image. The image abandons,
abandons by its nature, like nature abandons.
If I say, the body is a stone, I have abandoned
the body. If I say, the stone is a body,
I have abandoned the stone. The image prepared me
to sit with it alone. And then, by its nature,
abandoned me. I know the abandon of the image.
Wild abandon of the image. My body is a stone. ◆
Homepage Image: Allen Ruppersberg, Extra I, 2021, from Gulf Coast Winter/Spring 2027, Issue 39.1
