shifting (of obligations
in the eye (of contemplation

Daniela Elza
Simon Fraser University

“But words carry with them obligations.”

“...But images are more demanding than ideas.”

“...But exaggeration is always the summit of any living image.”

—Gaston Bachelard (78-80)

shifting                        (of obligations

when you take the   r                 out of

r     e  g  r  e  t                       

it turns

into a beautiful              (bird

swoops down

r      i     p    p   l  e s         the sky

with a singularity—

that consumes.

(my awe)

lands

(with the precision of

a well chosen                 word)

pulls a fish                    out of

its shadow.

References:

Bachelard, G. (1964). The poetics of space. (M. Jolas, Trans.). Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1958).

Acknowledgements:

shifting (of obligations was first published in Contemporary Verse 2 Vol. 30, Issue no. 2 (Fall, 2007).

About the Author

Daniela Elza is a PhD student in Philosophy of Education who poeticizes philosophy and philosophizes poetry, and hopes to not only bring them back together, but also to bring them both to bear on school reform and cultural ferment. Her interests are in metaphor, the imagination, and reverie. Philo-poesis not just as a practice, a more courteous way of being in the world, but as a vehicle for transforming consciousness. As a way of loosening our grip on the world to invite a more intimate connection with it, which creates space for insight and revelation. She practices everyday. Yes, it is addictive. Her work appears in both literary and peer-review publications. For more you can visit her blog: http://strangeplaces.livingcode.org/