Concerning the World
by James Owens

    September Sunday morning at dawn,
    during the first light drizzle in weeks,
    the bedraggled crow
    cawing from the walnut tree despite the rain
    does not have to be here. Any more
    than I have to be here, or the tree,
    or the rain. The world could go on.
    Or not. Smell of coffee
    from the cup I have carried out with me,
    smell of dead leaves. Damp light.
    Warm memory of making love a few hours ago.
    "That the world is is the beginning of mystery,"
    wrote Wittgenstein, ripping off Parmenides.
    But "world" hides behind specifics,
    the new day,
    each particular raindrop,
    not some other crow.






Copyright © 2024 by Red River Review. First Rights Reserved. All other rights revert to the authors.
No work may be reproduced or republished without the express written consent of the author.