Look, in these silences
which things sink into
and seem on the verge of
opening their closest secret,
you'd expect once in a while
to uncover some mistake

in nature, the world's still point,
some weak link, the loose thread
that leads us at last
to the heart of truth. Eyes
rummage in every corner:
the mind seeks agrees argues

with itself in this perfume
that floats – as day fades –
over everything; a silence
in which, in every dwindling
human shadow, a troubled
divinity could be seen.

Images above by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Top and on front-page mastheads: "Moon Night" Middle: "Snowy Landscape" Bottom: "Schlemihl's Encounter With The Shadow"

Words above by Eugene Montale, from “The Lemons”