poems on On Reading, photos by André Kertész
A Man Sits Above The City
(New York City, September 12, 1943)
A man sits a man sits a man
On a roof a man sits on
A roof in a city a man
On a roof sits a man with
His back to the sun sits
(It is here at this place
And now where reflection begins)
The page is the only thing white where
As the rest of the scene is black
And grey the man his face
His hands his shirt his pants grey
Is everything the roof the chair
Upon which the man who sits sits
Everything but one white page
Everything and every black shadow
Every shadow points at you
A Ceramic Bird In A Ceramic Nest
On A Table With An Open Book
(Newtown, Connecticut, Oct. 17,1959)
Outside through the gauze curtains
Through the closed window through
The reflection on the glass the reflection
Of the curtain on the window glass outside
Outside through this glass gauze curtain
Mirror a tree and the leaves sky sun
And the only thing open is the book
Books On Shelves Books On Books
(Bibliothèque de l' Institut, Paris, 1929)
Books on books on top of books on shelves
Shelves of books on top of shelves of books
Floors of shelves of books of shelves
On top of floors of shelves of books
The building of books built
On the building of books built
On the binding of the building of books
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