"O.K., BUT AFTER ALL, WHAT GOOD IS LITERATURE?
I
on the label of this bottle
there is an eagle with outspread wings
some commercial artist no doubt poorly paid took great pains drawing it
when we look at it
do we see the eagle he imagined?
or some remembered eagle?
or, perhaps, the idea of an eagle?
or do we see the eagle that now, this moment,
spreads its wings on the bottle of Medoc?
II
just below the eagle a chateau displays its facade before our eyes
thanks to the careful use of the laws of perspective and with a little goodwill on our part
it creates an illusion of reality
and the gentle suggestion of clouds against a sky
made of black dots gives the impression of a sunny day
III
the neck of the bottle
shot through with light
is a contrast of greens
some dark
some luminous
right now
these greens
speak a language
clearer
than human language
which after all
at its most ambitious
is but an attempt
to decipher it
or perhaps
not an attempt
to decipher
what is after all
not in code
but an attempt
to encode it?
IV
when I give it a little thought
I realize
that the language of computers
and that of poetic images
are simply two languages
one as valid as the other
I say this perfectly aware of the shocking nature
of such a statement
however
why not acknowledge that myth for example
is a language that now because it is alien
seems suggestive mysterious rich
truer than others only because its grammar is unknown to us?