Huntington Library, Pasadena, California May 2012
The First Time
Being first implies
that there 's a sequence,
a dull parade of samenesses
that find distinction
only in their order.
But time reels past
in moments strung like laundry,
each one uniquely pinned
into its place along the line,
fanned by its private breeze,
immune to repetition.
Nothing happens twice,
not love, not breath,
not waves that lap a shore.
Always it is the first time,
and the last.
~ Joyce La Mers
(from the Los Angeles Times: a woman whose work has been likened
to a marriage of Dorothy Park and Ogden Nash
Being first implies
that there 's a sequence,
a dull parade of samenesses
that find distinction
only in their order.
But time reels past
in moments strung like laundry,
each one uniquely pinned
into its place along the line,
fanned by its private breeze,
immune to repetition.
Nothing happens twice,
not love, not breath,
not waves that lap a shore.
Always it is the first time,
and the last.
~ Joyce La Mers
(from the Los Angeles Times: a woman whose work has been likened
to a marriage of Dorothy Park and Ogden Nash
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