February 5: Cosmic Tapestry

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February Feels Like

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Feb 7, 2026, 11:34:55 PMFeb 7
to February Feels Like
A little woman looks out the window:
the penny-tree starts chinking
a little man looks out:
penny-tree penny-chinking woman
they say nothing about it to each other
because one's feeding the hawk
the other the pigeon
and the mountains are compressed 
the mountains retreat
suns set and rise
suns set and rise
the living feed the living
life gives food to life
there's always some flesh on the fishbones
seeds don't spill through the basket
they sleep in the one common bed
at the one common table
they call each other rose, gillyflower
the moon's on the cool tower of their palace
on its ardent tower the sun
silver and gold
inside their tower walls
chrysalid-blue
beyond their tower walls
butterfly-wing-blue
only the penny-tree changes
quivering, changing back
changing and re-changing
changing and re-changing
when the little woman looks out:
the penny-tree starts chinking
when the little man looks out:
penny-tree penny-chinking woman
they say nothing about it to each other
because one of them's feeding the hawk
the other the pigeon
and mountains are compressed
mountains retreat
suns set and rise
suns set and rise

down turn the heaves, sunless
the sky below turns moonless down
the earth stands still above the skies
roots grow roots from roots
down begins to mirror up
a little woman looks out the window:
the penny-tree starts chinking
a little man looks out the window:
penny-tree penny-chinking woman
they say nothing about it to each other
because one's feeding the hawk
the other the pigeon
mountains retreat
mountains are compressed
but it cannot dawn
it cannot even
what was feeds what was
the dead giving the dead food
there's always some flesh on the fishbones
seeds don't spill through the basket
they sleep in the one common bed
they call each other rose, gillyflower
at the one common table
within their tower walls
the chrysalid darkness
beyond their tower walls
the butterfly-wing darkness
only the penny-tree changes
quivering, changing back
changing and re-changing
changing and re-changing
when the little woman looks out:
the penny-tree starts chinking
when the little man looks out:
penny-tree penny-chinking woman
they say nothing about it to each other
because one's feeding the hawk
the other the pigeon
mountains retreat
mountains are compressed
but it cannot dawn
it cannot even

the heavens mirror themselves turning
the sky below turning again
the hair's darkness stiffens downward
the sleeve flares downward
the penny-tree's chinking quivering playing
whatever is missing it seems is there
all of it playing all
I bite off the thread, my lord
I consider the work complete
---
Anna Kiss, The Face of Creation: Contemporary Hungarian Poetry (1988)
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