Russell Edson - The Theory

Russell Edson - The Theory

The big one went to sleep as to die and dreamed he br became a tiny one. So tiny as to have lost all substance. To have br become as theoretical as a point. br br Then someone said, get up, big one, you're not doing br yourself any good. You puddle and stagnate in your weight. br Best to be up and toward. It irrigates you. br br What, said the big one, have I not disappeared? Have you br not mistaken a cloud for me? Perhaps some local hill fulfills br your expectation? br br No, it's no mistake, it's you; those interconnecting puddles br of flesh pulling at your bones, attempting that world-weary fall br toward the great waters of the world. br br How you manage against gravity is one of the greater br triumphs of nature. br br Do you think, said the big one, there's a woman who br would like to marry me? br br Yes, had such a woman done everything in the world except br marry you, she might think it worthy before dying to complete br her catalogue. Or having done everything, go meekly br without decision or care to such a consummation. br br Then you really feel, said the big one, that this woman br could come to care very deeply for me? br br All is theoretical. Who knows enough to say the outcome br of any event, save that it was past us, and we saw the back of it br moving slowly into the Universe, seeking other settings to br repeat the fall of fate. . . br br That sounds wonderful, that a woman like that could be in br love with me, said the big one. br br But in a few moments the big one was back asleep, dreaming br that he had come to such enlargement that he constituted br all the matter in the Universe, which must include the earth br and the woman he would have loved. . .


User: PoemHunter.com

Views: 6

Uploaded: 2014-11-07

Duration: 02:15

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