Semi-colon Semi-quaver

Jan Zwicky.
Wittgenstein Elegies

This opens the section set in Rosro, County Galway.

Grooves in the rough-planed planks.
Trace the grain, back and forth, slow path,
back; and forth. Salt light from over
the dark chafed sea. So much is constant:
desk, cot, window. Wood, light, sea.
Trace, retrace, tide-worn wash of mind.
There is nothing left to strip away, grind
down, wear off: but still not pure enough, no
clarity. Words stumble, clutter, clog. I remain
a draughtsman; thought, dull pencil used
to trace the outlines that fragment and blur
at every stroke.
Note the odd punctuation: "back; and forth." A mark not unlike a pencil blur. Double croche.

And so for day 1648
18.06.2011