“... What would out in knowing/ whether it was love? That arresting word/ is no use to me. The accusation/ was faithlessness, not unfeeling.”
// from the sonnet "Duplicitous"
In this zuihitsu, a set of loosely-connected sonnets, quoted verse, accounts of dreams, and philosophical notes is pulled together in the rough shape of a poetic essay. The word “I” comprises fully 3% of the text; the word “love,” 2%; and “you,” 1%.
The author prefaces the work with a caveat against definitive interpretation: “I’m dumping the bucket of parts out upon the tabletop. What a clatter they make. [...] This essay is not a confessional record of my personal thoughts on love; it is a fiction. However, it does makes use of truths belonging to me.” |
