Apologies

Rilke’s Boat by Ernst Jandl

Taking a stroke

Sitting there

Sitting there

Taking a stroke

It is this poem I once belittled –

            For its apparent simplicity
Calling it childish, unworthy
            Of literal adoration –
That floats back to my mind,

Over and over again, when I am by myself,

Feeling down, or sitting in silence.

Two pairs of lines, gliding

            Down a gentle creek of words,
Feeling on my tongue, each turn of oars,
            And the sky above, a blue infinity.

I murmur to myself, when the moon

            Is caught in a throe of tides –

Row, Rilke, row.