Jose Garcia Villa

“The,genius,is,not,greater,Than,its,radius,Which,defines,its,genius.The,tower,is,not,greater,Than,its,altitude,Which,defines,its,solitude.”

“A,bee,flying,to,the,end,of,the,world,To,find,one,flower,wherein,to,lie,curled,Is,a,Fiction,is,a,lie,That,will,keep,God,in,the,sky.”

“An,Epigram,Is,an,epic,Weight,Concealed,In,a,gram’s,Space.”

“With,simple,hands—Like,the,first,hands,of,Adam,Discovering,Eve.”

“Observe me, I do not speak.But I am very quickAnd already I have spoken.Observe me as now I speak.But I am very quickAnd already I have unspoken.”

“A poem islanguagebuiltto the struc-ture of aflower.”

“Art is a miraculous flirtation with Nothing!Aiming for nothing, and landing on the Sun.”

“Sir, there’s a tower of fire in meBinding me with terrible strength The whole of my mortal lengthAnd splitting brave the skull’s emperyIn a rush of dauntless energy To reach the most luminous etherI am the mortal grounding of a towerImminent with immortality.”

“Nevermore to delay lifeEnd the beginningDevise the bravest perpendicularTo the squarest circle.Assume the ending.If He lies broken who broke Him?Assume your innocence!If you are broken who broke you?Assume His innocence!The perpendicular of heaven and death!Now the wounded may rest.If He—on your breast.If you—on His brest.Rest, rest.”

“Between one and oneBetween integer and integerIs itself’s nothingThe abstract zero.Between I and I Between self and selfIs itself’s everythingThe abstract HeroThat self may equate to Or keep ever as two.”

“When,Nothing,is,so,well,said,Or,so,well,done,It,betrays,itself,and,becomes,Something:As,apples,by,Cézanne,or,just,Lines,by,Modrian.”

“If,wisdom,can,not,count,The,petals,of,a,snake,Yet,wisdom,can,Its,backbone,break.”

“I,astonish,Death,with,my,largesse. She,becomes,a,silly,maid,Saying, “Never,mind. Never,mind.”

“At,twelve,o’clock,the,poet,is,sad.At,thirteen,o’clock,the,world,goes,mad.At,mad,o’clock,the,hero’s,blood.At,blood,o’clock,the,shining,truth.At,truth,o’clock,the,Timeless,Head.”

“Not,speech,that,has,fire,But,Fire,that,can,speak—Genius.”

“Mathematicians,excell,us,Take,a,census,Of,the,canaries,in,the,sun.”

“The,purpose,of,a,match?”“To,start,a,fire,with.”No.“To,store,up,fire,And,to,keep,it,cool.”

“The,pages,of,a,mirror,Are,translucent.”

“A matter of physics—Length and Tension—How does the performer make it sing above the laws of sound?”

“Where are there square bubbles?”

“The way my ideas think meIs the way I unthink God.As in the name of heaven I make hellThat is the way the Lord says me.And all is adventure and dangerAnd I roll Him off cliffs and mountains But fast as I am to push Him offFast am I to reach Him below.And it may be then His turn to push me off,I wait breathless for that terrible second:And if He push me not, I turn around in anger:“O art thou the God I would have!”Then He pushes me and I plunge down, down!And when He comes to help me upI put my arms around Him, saying, “Brother,Brother.” . . . This is the way we are.”

“Have I sung?Have I become soft, beautiful?”

“I shall talk to you through trees, through the arms of dancers, through sweet words uttered by many lovers.The arms of dancers round you shall be my arms.The eyes of men admiring you shall be my eyes.I have many arms, many eyes.It is that, loving you, I have become many lovers.”

“Skies,are,written,Because,skies,are,born.”

“I,it,was,that,saw,God,dancing,on,phosphorescent,toes,Among,the,strawberries.It,could,have,been,moonlight,or,Daylight—or,no,light,at,all.His,feet,cast,light,on,all.On,phosphorescent,feet,On,phosphorescent,feet,He,danced,And,His,eyes,were,closed:He,made,the,strawberries,tremble!Yet,He,hurt,not,the,little,one,But,gave,them,ripeness,all.”

“in blue wihout when blues dream bearsthe only living girls are goldquickly the living boys will bring them starsand stars will sing them bellsin bells without when bells dream bloomsthe only living boys are bravequickly the living girls will bring them doomsand dooms will praise their love”

“A radio made of seawaterWill have mermaids for music: Who when me they will kissAll my senses will greet.”

“But since Christ is not easy(You must hunt him first amongThe white shadows of black birds With a mask upon your shoulderAnd a rose upon your eyes!)—”

“Be beautiful, noble, like the antique ant,Who bore the storms as he bore the sun, Wearing neither gown nor helmet, Though he was archbishop and soldier:Wore only his own flesh....Trace the tracelessness of the ant,Every ant has reached this perfection.As he comes, so he goes,Flowing as water flows,Essential but secret like a rose.”

“there where her night beginsthere be her goldest rosest rosethat in her deep wisdom knowsboygrace will knight her Rose”

“First, a poem must be magical,then musical as a sea-gull.”

“To,speak,of,the,interior,of,light,Requires,speaker,broken,by,light.”

“I can no more hear Love’sVoice.”