Star Block

There is no such thing
as star block.
We do not think of
locking out the light
of other galaxies.
It is light
so rinsed of impurities
(heat, for instance)
that it excites
no antibodies in us.
Yet people are
curiously soluble
in starlight.
Bathed in its
absence of insistence
their substance
loosens willingly,
their bright
designs dissolve.
Not proximity
but distance
burns us with love.

Kay Ryan

******************************

My daughter gave me Kay Ryan's Say Uncle
for Christmas. I was telling her a few weeks
ago that I had never read any of the work of
the new Poet Laureate of the US, so she choose
this selection. Haven't decided yet how much
I like her, but I like the poem above.

It makes me think about a comment someone
made one time about how ridiculous he found
the old saying absence makes the heart grow fonder
to be. He's one of those people you meet who think they
are right most of the time, so I went along with him,
but I do think there is something to be said
for the longing that comes with absence.