by Mary R. Smith
“Thus the name, in its very obscurity is the constellation of truth.”
from “Constellations” by Alexander Garcia Duttmann
If the constellations,
constellatio,
set with stars
are shapes imagined
and named
by Greeks or Arabs
in myths and stories
of archers and twins,
scorpions and goats;
if a discontinuity of stars
perceived in patterns
changes with the vantage point,
unfolds without idea,
waits for an apparition
astray in a stream of stars
separated by light years,
are not as close together
as they seem, illusion thrives.
If astrologers can predict
a life journey with star shapes,
insubstantial reality,
then linguists and philosophers
using the same trope can name
what they can’t name. So.
“Learning to write poems is a journey – both a struggle and a delight.”