Poetry by Robert Duncan

Commissioned by the Constellation Men’s Ensemble in Chicago, IL as part of their NOVA New Music Series, June 2024.

Text

Sail, Monarchs, rising and falling

Orange merchants in spring’s flowery markets!

                 Messengers of March in warm currents of news floating,

Flitting into areas of aroma,

             Tracing out of air unseen roots and branches of sense

I share in though,

                    filaments woven and broken where the world might light

   casual certainties of me. There are

                echoes of what I am in what you perform

this morning. How you perfect my spirit!

almost restore

     an imaginary tree of the living in all its doctrines

by fluttering about,

  intent and easy as you are, the profusion of you!

   Awakening transports of an inner view of things.