
AFFIDAVIT
for Lincoln’s second birthday
In all sincerity, in truth, in fact,
without equivocation, doubt or guile,
with honest cards (the deck has not been stacked),
forevermore, and not just for a while,
I’ll say, until the universe has ended,
and possibly beyond the death of space,
long after what the Big Bang broke is mended:
above all sights I love my Lincoln’s face.
And furthermore, I hereby do avow
that after Time itself has proven mortal,
when there’s no longer anything called Now,
this oath will be delivered through a portal
in Nothing’s void so Emptiness can thrill,
despite the lack of time and lack of place,
to know Existence died and yet know still:
above all sights I love my Lincoln’s face.
This poem originally appeared in Light Quarterly, Nos. 70-71, Autumn-Winter 2010-2011