Dan Campion
There’s always time to watch a setting sun,
as long as you entrust to metaphor
“there,” “always,” “time,” and “watch” and “set” and “sun.”
What else is that technique of thinking for?
The fear and pity Aristotle swore
were “purged” by tragedy, or at least “claimed”
they “were,” were metaphorical, but bore
inside themselves the very things they named.
In any case, the western sky’s inflamed,
and what you make of that, well, watch and wait.
Just take your time, no need to feel ashamed.
A ghost light lingers if we stay up late.
There’s always time. The sun will always set.
In mask and buskins, dusk may answer yet.
Dan Campion is the author of Peter De Vries and Surrealism and co-editor of Walt Whitman: The Measure of His Song, a third edition of which was issued in 2019. Dan’s poetry has appeared in Grand Little Things, Light, Measure, Poetry