ERDE

A moment ago it fell upon me--
a single word that means,
for this moment,
the Eternity, the All.

And I have thrust it into me and spoken its name,
and through me, it resounds in heavy low reverberations.

Erde.

Inside my body, I can hear it ring
in strong Wagnerian tetrachords,
but out of my mouth, when it comes,
it is weak and shallow.

"Erde!"

I cry out again and again,
trying to capture the depth of it.
No, I am not capable--
and I may never be.

Why am I given to know, to perceive,
that which I cannot recreate?