Scott Owens has a way of putting words to a life.
Ineffable
By Scott Owens
Though all he has are words, he keeps trying
to wrap his mind around the things he sees,
hawk’s hover, sunrise, stars appearing
one by one, crocuses in snow,
cherry trees popping open on a single day,
mesmerizing dance of fire, water over rock,
the beauty of space between the trees in woods,
the birth of his daughter after 21 years of waiting,
the way the same painting can speak to him
differently from 25 feet than it did from 10,
the way he has often turned the wheel before
he saw anything happening, but somehow just in time,
the knowledge that when he dies he’ll be just as dead
as anyone, the fact that he keeps trying anyway.
Simple and accessible. If only more poets would allow themselves this means of touching their readers!
Scott apparently has no problem with the ineffable, but if he does he compensates with the extraordinary imagery in this fantastic poem! It’s up to the reader to immediately see each word and know the feeling that’s described. Love his wonderful words!
Wonderful poem by one of my favorite poets!