The poem is brilliant in its broad metaphor, witty and all too true. I deeply admire Rhina's work, but there's a grammatical glitch here in L3, and for that reason I get a little pang when I read this. The phrase "that seemed to say it all once" describes "the indicative," but "has slipped away" interferes with the flow there.
I'm also wondering if there were italics on "act" and "remembrance": as is I'm not sure how to read this.
Everything else here is magnificent, as noted by so many. I wonder why I'm the only reader to notice these trivial bits? In spite of them, however, I think of Rhina as one of the most admirable formalists writing today. Forgive me for bringing up these infelicities (Rhina especially!), but I don't know how everyone else managed not to notice, and would like to understand that.
So I'm a nitpicker, so sue me! I'm trying to learn something here.
Terese
[This message has been edited by Terese Coe (edited May 06, 2002).]
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