Incompleteness

Rachel J. Bennett

First published in Salt Hill 33 (2014).

for Kurt Gödel

You are standing in an open field.
You said you would no longer believe
in signs until they come true, blue
sky not portent but blue sky, charts
the day you bought the boots less
important than their broken throats
and frayed laces. To the west, a capsized
horse. Above, a mailbox. Open
the mailbox. Another letter from the land
where you always think you can live.
You want advice because you’ve
forgotten what you said about signs,
the promise of blood too great, stars
laden as bright camels. You will fall
on your sword because you always
fall, but to the east is a house
made of scruples. Strike the match.
No logical system can capture all truths.
Eat the jewel. No logical system is free
of inconsistency. Love is the memory
of diamond mines before anyone knew
there were diamonds and sparkling was
just the way water was in certain lights.
You are standing in an open field.
Each time the first time, easy to say,
hard to keep moving. Be brave.
You are perfect as a shock of wheat.

Rachel J. Bennett’s poems have appeared in journals including elimae, inter|rupture, Permafrost, Salt Hill, Similar:Peaks::, Sixth Finch, Smartish Pace, Spittoon, Toad, Verse Daily and Vinyl. She grew up in Rock Island, Illinois, and studied English at Grinnell College.