Mar 23
How then shall we
succeed?
The eye must heed
the meaning
the eye must be free
seeing.
What is a word
to the eye?
Meaning.
Seeing the pot-
boil of leaves in the wind
it is a tree.
Watching the pale hoist
of shining
it is the moon
climbing.
The tree must be named.
This gives it fruit
issues its juices.
The moon must be named.
This renders love
madness.
succeed?
The eye must heed
the meaning
the eye must be free
seeing.
What is a word
to the eye?
Meaning.
Seeing the pot-
boil of leaves in the wind
it is a tree.
Watching the pale hoist
of shining
it is the moon
climbing.
The tree must be named.
This gives it fruit
issues its juices.
The moon must be named.
This renders love
madness.
— from “Naming”, in The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy, Kamau Brathwaite