Published by Sidebrow Books P.O. Box 86921 Portland, OR 97286 sidebrow@sidebrow.net www.sidebrow.net Š2016 by Mathias Svalina All rights reserved Cover art by Josh Keyes Cover design by Jason & Felix Snyder Book design by Jason Snyder ISBN: 1-940090-05-9 ISBN-13: 978-1-940090-05-4 first edition
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first printing
987654321 s i d e b ro w b o o k s 0 16 p r i n t e d i n t h e u n i t e d s tat e s
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THE WINE-DARK SEA MATH IAS S VAL INA
sidebrow books • 2 0 1 6 • portla nd & san francisco
The Wine-Dark Sea................................1 The Wine-Dark Sea................................2 The Wine-Dark Sea................................3 The Wine-Dark Sea................................4 The Wine-Dark Sea................................5 The Wine-Dark Sea................................6 The Wine-Dark Sea................................7 The Wine-Dark Sea................................8 The Wine-Dark Sea................................9 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................10 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................11 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................12 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................13 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................14 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................15 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................16 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................17 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................18 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................19 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................20 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................21 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................22 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................23 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................24 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................25 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................26 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................27
The Wine-Dark Sea..............................28 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................29 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................30 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................31 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................32 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................33 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................34 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................35 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................36 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................37 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................38 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................39 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................40 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................41 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................42 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................43 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................44 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................45 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................46 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................47 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................48 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................49 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................50 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................51 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................52 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................53 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................54
The Wine-Dark Sea..............................55 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................56 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................57 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................58 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................59 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................60 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................61 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................62 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................63 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................64 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................65 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................66 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................67 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................68 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................69 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................70 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................71 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................72 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................73 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................74 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................75 The Wine-Dark Sea..............................76
for Selah Saterstrom
It is a convenience not to fear the dark. —Diogenes (tr. Guy Davenport)
T h e W ine -Da r k S e a
Knowing suffering is a liturgy. Knowing the eyeless we grow more eyes. Just think: your own hand is always awake. I want to show you what I saw in the glass. Let’s unbury everything clotted with nests.
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T h e W ine -Da r k S e a
I am trying to be simple as ink. I talk to you sometimes in the daylight. At night I try not to suspend. There is so much I can’t form that is true. Celan said this to Ilana Shmueli: Through you I translate you over to me.
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T h e W ine -Da r k S e a
I want what the date wants from its box, printed in lip. The concerto cast a morning beneath bridges where ropes dangle. I cannot stand inside myself. What emerged when I opened my mouth was a thanking tomb. So we tremble. Do we tremble? We tremble.
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T h e W ine -Da r k S e a
Asking is easy for a number. Words are burdens. Mouths lumber. I should not be afraid of myself: a little perpetuity with arms, a comb with teeth bent back. Around me the white draws a ring, a one.
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T h e W ine -Da r k S e a
The hum, yes, that corruption. That rot at play. Beneath me, Easter. Meanwhile, a PO box.
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T h e W ine -Da r k S e a
I almost died like a letter never posted. Glue brittle. I needed it later but by then each word quivered in quotation marks.
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T h e W ine -Da r k S e a
I breathe with gate & I breathe with light & not only with it. This is repetition. I breathe the uninterruptible law of no money that we really love.
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T h e W ine -Da r k S e a
So close to the river trucks & insects combine. In the river I’d be a difference, orange plastic bag, a catalog. each morning moonceasing.
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