John Pursch- A Poem

John Pursch lives in Tucson, Arizona. Twice nominated for Best of the Net, his work has appeared in many literary journals. His first book, Intunesia, is available at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/whiteskybooks. Check out his experimental lit-rap video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l33aUs7obVc. He’s @johnpursch on Twitter and john.pursch on Facebook.

Partitions of Unity

We live in a seamless unity

that isn’t even a thing

and with one innocent little cut

we set in motion

an infinite, unstoppable process.

The first word,

the first thought,

and all is lost.

Without the concept of “first”,

this cannot happen.

So number is involved here,

at bottom, and prior to one is zero;

an emptiness, devoid… of what?

If we try to strip it all the way down,

to toss out the baby, the bath water,

the kitchen sink, the two-car garage,

the TV in every room,

to return to paradise,

before point and line,

before the idea of number…

We find we’re proudly waging

a war on concepts –

with concepts!

Maybe this banishing of thought

is how thought began?

Or begins again?

And again?