A cold night crosses

our path

     The world appears

very large, very

round now  extending

far as the moon does

           It is from

the moon this cold travels

           It is

the light of the moon that causes

this night reflecting distance in its own

light so coldly

            (from one side of

the earth to the other)

           It is the length of this coldness

It is the long distance

between two points which are

not in a line   now

           not a

straightness  (however

straight) but a curve only,

silver that is a rock reflecting

               not metal

but a rock accepting

distance

      (a scream in silence

where between the two

points what touches

is a curve around the world

               (the dance unmoving).

                    new york, 1969