“The Artisan World,” by W.S. Merwin

Still video capture from “Threshold”, a short film included in the PALM: ALL AWAKE IN THE DARKNESS installation by Sayler/Morris

THE ARTISAN WORLD

It turns but does not try to remember
it does not precede or follow
obey or not obey
it is not answering a question
it arrives knowing without knowledge
it makes the pieces one by one in the dark
there is always enough dark
before time comes with the locusts
the insects of comparison the improvers
with their many legs in the dazzling air
makers of multiplication and series
they never touch what is awake here
and is not waiting nor asking nor fashioned
but is one with the uneven current of breathing
with the silence untouched by the rush of noise

–W.S. Merwin, from The Moon Before Morning (Copper Canyon Press, 2014). Used by permission of the publishers.

Featured photo is a still video capture taken from Threshold, a site-specific video installation created by artist duo Sayler/Morris that was originally commissioned by the American Writers Museum in Chicago. To learn more, visit our Artists in the Garden page.

“The Artisan World,” by W.S. Merwin