Basil Bunting

C F

from Odes: 15 ["Nothing"]

Nothing
substance utters or time
stills and restrains
joins design and

supple measure deftly
as thought’ s intricate polyphonic
score dovetails with the tread
sensuous things
keep in our consciousness.

Celebrate man’ s craft
and the word spoken in shapeless night, the
sharp tool paring away
waste and the forms
cut out of mystery!