i am struck by the vastness of the city, because

it is a vastness centered in minutiae, a

vastness composed not of towering

monuments but of individuals

i am struck by the dimensions of the mind

i am struck by the knowledge that

a fish can swim by itself back and forth back

and forth in the same tank for

half a year without committing suicide

i am struck by the darker emotions (perversely beautiful)

i am struck by an ordinary man on the street

because he is ordinary and if he aspires

to be anything else he aspires in silence

(because what i do not hear does not exist)

i am struck by carbonation

i am struck by repetition: this word, struck,

no longer has meaning unique to itself,

lacks the significance and the illusion

of importance because i repeat it

i am struck by your smile

because it is beautiful