Kenneth Koch(1925–2002)

Permanently

O n e day the N o u n s were clustered in the street.

An Adjective walked by, with her dark beauty.

The N o u n s were struck, moved, changed.

The next day a Verb drove up, and created the S e n t e n c e . *

Each Sentence says one thing—for example. "Although it was a dark

rainy day when the Adjective walked by, I shall remember the

pure and sweet expression on her face until the day I perish from

the green, effective earth.

Or, "Will you please close the window, Andrew

Or, for example, "Thank you, the pink pot of flowers on the window

sill has changed color recently to a light yellow, due to the heat

from the boiler factory which exists nearby.

In the springtime the Sentences and the Nouns lay silently on the

grass.

A lonely Conjunction here and there would call, "And! But!

But the Adjective did not emerge.

As the adjective is lost in the sentence,

So I am lost in your eyes, ears, nose, and throat—

You have enchanted me with a single kiss

Which can never be undone

Until the destruction of language.