The point is to...live one’s life in the full complexity of what one is, which is something much darker, more contradictory, more of a maelstrom of impulses and passions, of cruelty, ecstasy, and madness, than is apparent to the civilized being who glides on the surface and fits smoothly into the world.
—Thomas Nagel summarizing the teachings of Friedrich Nietzche
Earthly things must be known to be loved; divine things must be loved to be known.
—Blaise Pascal
Perhaps it would be best not to name it at all. Names are prone to vulgarization, to obsolescence.
—Harold Clurman
But above all, the poet, is he who names things... And that's the poet's mission, profound and sacred communication. And another word for that is love.
—Fuentes, Carlos. Where The Air Is Clear. University of Illinois, Bloomington, Il. Dalkey Archive Press, 1960.
One Word
If I could have but one word to describe you,
it would not be a world like "love" or "God,"
for, although both, of you—are true.
One carries too much baggage,
the other too many expectations.
This word would be a new word.
One created solely to describe you.
A word not encased by the rules of language
nor previously written with the hand of man.
This word would be a simple word, perhaps only
one syllable long, and yet it would embrace all
the known and forgotten languages of life.
A breath whispering in the blackness of space,
not audible to the expanding galaxies,
not conceivable to the floating nebula.
The power of this word lies not upon it's surface
but in qualities hidden from view, like invisible stars—
It unfolds with knowledge, wisdom, magic and intent.
This word would encompass your radiance,
extol the benevolence of your heart,
be made whole by your acceptance.
Humbled, only from your eyes’ light,
This word would be a new word,
one never spoken or even thought.
This word would be the one word to describe you,
but one in which I will not live, confined.
This word, this one word, will live inside of me.
Photo Credit: ArtGlass