Song of Myself
Henry Silver

I dwell far below and in the heavens, in all the hells and paradises forgotten and never known;
They who seek to understand me, who am their shadow, know me not, for I retreat in haste;
Inexpressible, sightless, forever beyond reach;
They who do not seek to understand me always perceive me, for I abide and tarry in omnipresence.

I chase the autumn wind winnowing its way across the grass;
I coast through the uncultivated streets, evading the cowlicked hair of idle passers-by;
I am ballast upon the bilge – without let or hindrance;
I am chaff sorted from the wheat – abject, needless, fraught with burden.