Motion
Motion - meaning Summary
Complementary, Sacrificial Identities
Motion presents a sequence of conditional metaphors in which the speaker defines themselves only in relation to an addressed other. Each couplet pairs contrasting images—natural, violent, and sacred—to suggest mutual dependence, transformation, and cyclical unity. The speaker alternately complements, consecrates, or desecrates the addressee, making identity porous and created through touch and opposition. The poem’s return to an initial image implies a circular, ongoing exchange.
Read Complete AnalysesIf you are the amber mare I am the road of blood If you are the first snow I am he who lights the hearth of dawn If you are the tower of night I am the spike burning in your mind If you are the morning tide I am the first bird’s cry If you are the basket of oranges I am the knife of the sun If you are the stone altar I am the sacrilegious hand If you are the sleeping land I am the green cane If you are the wind’s leap I am the buried fire If you are the water’s mouth I am the mouth of moss If you are the forest of the clouds I am the axe that parts it If you are the profaned city I am the rain of consecration If you are the yellow mountain I am the red arms of lichen If you are the rising sun I am the road of blood
Translated by Eliot Weinberger
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