--------------------------------------------------------------------

 two  sequences  from  _s i l e n c e   a n d   l i c e n s e_


                by   w i l l i a m   l.  f o x 


-------------------------------------------------------------------

EDGE

I.

10:05 p.m.

cover your left
eye with your
open left hand/

open your other
hand/ with both
eyes shut/ what

you see in
your left hand/
will be out

aside by your
right/ and will
cover your tracks.




10:10 p.m.

pick a room
and stand in
front of the

window/lights
off behind your
back for now/

both eyes open/
palms on the
glass/ lean out/

caught in the
glass/ your face
the night and

behind you/ the
open right hand/
the closed eyes.



10:11 p.m.

open your eyes/
open the window/
close your hands/

outside the wind
and inside the
light/behind you/

your left eye
blinks in the
wind/ your right

eye steady to
the light/ your
hands cover and

uncover each other/
your eyes and
the tracks.



II.

8:54 p.m.

on the beach
waves to the
right/ the cliff

to the left/
your arms held
out east and

west/ a light
rises and falls
out to sea/

raise up and
lower your arms
twice/ and then

twice more/ the
light sinks/ the
cliff dark.



8:54 p.m.

on deck you
face/ the shore
as it rises

then falls/ the
light around you
rises and falls/

the headlands are
dark/ the stars
rise and fall/

your arms lift
up and fall/
the next wave

goes to shore
with/ the light
behind it.



8:54 p.m.

walk to the
edge of the
cliff/ the waves

far apart in
star light/ a
boat rises then

falls in be
tween the
waves/ the man

waves from shore
at you with
one arm/ at

the boat with
the other/ rising
and falling away/

the edge of
the cliff behind
you/ the sea

rising up in
you/ the boat
and its light.



III.


7:20 p.m.

dusk/ and you
must go walk
across the lawn/

into the trees/
and across the
field/ more trees/

and then off
to one side
a boy and

girl/ the sky
and their skin
turn first one

color then an
other/ the light
falls/ you turn


away home/ the
lovers rise and
fall/ and rise.



7:20 p.m.

across the field
the boy and
girl/ rise and

fall before the
trees/ and on
the far side

yet another man
watches in silence/
his head rises

and falls/ from
the lovers to
the sky/ from

light to the
light/ before he
turns to

go/ your tracks
and hands crossing
and uncrossing.



7:21 p.m.

everyone must
leave now/ and
go home before

the light too
has gone/ the
men go left

and right/ the
boy and girl
go left and

right/ the trees
go into night/
the field rises

and falls with
a heavy dew/
and still some

one comes looking/
left and right
and chooses one.



IV


10:12 p.m.

so he comes
and goes/ behind
your eyes/ the

hands open and
close/ the tracks
cross left and

right from field
to sea/ the
window open and

you can hear
the sea rise
and fall/ his

footsteps rise and
fall behind you/
the arms raise

and come down/
the lights gone
out to sea.



------------------------------------

A FILM


to  tell  a  story  :  to  knot  up  a  line  with  :  story


to  tie  up  the  :  means  into  an  end  :  to  lie


to  begin  with  any  :  one  thing  is  a  missed  take  :  out
from  an  :  other  story


to  begin  with  a  mis  :  take  and  tie  it  :  up
into  another  :  lie  is  a  story


to  knot  up  :  and  to  put  down  on  :  the  line
a  story  :  is  to  lie  down  all  :  along


to  tell  a  story  :  to  line  up  your  mistakes  :


to  end  up  all  :  along  and  mean  it








:  you  :  start  out  not  knowing  it  :  is  a  story


:  you  :  walk  what  you  :  mistake  for  a  line


:  you  :  take  this  other  :  hand  and  think
two  of  you  :  are  on  a  line  that  points  :  some  :
where


this  is  not  the  point  :  writing  it  down  :  is
not  the  line  :  your  out  takes  :  are
not  the  :  line  you  don't  know  :  this  story


some  where  along  the  way  :  you  let  go  in  :
order  to  :  be  to  gether


:  you  :  get  the  point  but  :  not  the  line








you  have  to  :  hand  it  to  your  :  self  :


this  is  a  line  :  you  can  grasp  :  one  which
starts  here  and  :  ends  :  here


the  line  is  :  the  grasp  is  :  the  mistake  is  :
the  end  is  :  the  meaning  is  :  the  story  is  :  you  :
are  free  to  :  begin






if  you  :  see  :  black  and  white  the  :  words  :
you  have  only  seen  the  :  story


if  on  :  the  other  hand  it  :  appears  gray  :
you  :  have  read  :  the  story






this  out  :  growth  of  the  end  :  point  a
line  thrown  back  to  :  justify  :  that  a  point might
be  more  :  moments  than  once




------------------------------------------------------------

from SILENCE AND LICENSE
Light and Dust Books
Copyright (C) 1994 by william l. fox

------------------------------------------------------------


