KANALOA
When he woke his mind was the west
and he could not remember waking
wherever he looked the sun was coming toward him
the moon was coming toward him
month after month the wind was coming toward him
behind the day the night was coming toward him
all the stars all the comets all the depth of the sea
all the darkness in the earth all the silence all the cold
all the heights were coming toward him
no one had been on earth before him
all the stories were coming toward him
over the mountain
over the red water the black water
the moonlight
he had imagined the first mistake
all the humans are coming toward him with numbers
they are coming from the beginning to look for him
each of them finds him and he is different
they do not believe him at first
but he houses the ghosts of the trees
the ghosts of the animals
of the whales and the insects
he rises in dust he is burning he is smoke
behind him is nothing
he is the one who is already gone
he is fire flowing downward over the edge
he is the last he is the coming home
he might never have wakened
— W.S. Merwin, from his 1988 book The Rain in the Trees. Copyright © 1988 by W. S. Merwin. Used by permission of the publisher, Knopf.
To browse through our archive of previously posted Poems of the Week, click here.
To support the preservation of W.S. Merwin’s legacy and our efforts to preserve his home and palm forest for future generations, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to The Merwin Conservancy.