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When
Words Fail
By
Richard
Falk
Visiting Distinguished Professor, Global Studies,
University of California, Santa Barbara and Milbank
Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton
University
TFF
associate
November 7, 2003
In memory of Edward Said
The eye sees but cannot tell
The heart knows but cannot say
The mind weeps but cannot cry
Such feelings do no more
than announce such a death
To feel this loss
alone in moments of shared silence
comes closer to words than words
as even apt and precious words
die of grief on our tongue
never to be born
or possibly, stillborn
escaping as if exhaled smoke
escaping as birds streaking south
as autumn vanishes
And yet this loss is far from forgetfulness
the heartbeat of memory lives as before
his words, his passion, his grace
remind us daily of anguished absence
yet equally of haunting presence
as vital as the lives we lead.
X/22/2003
Santa Barbara
©
TFF & the author 2003
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