Friends,
I picked out “Sunflower Sonnet Number Two” as a favorite of mine from an old edition of June Jordan’s Things that I Do in the Dark, only to later find that Adrienne Rich picked out the same sonnet in her introduction to Directed By Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan (2005), published after Jordan’s death in 2002. That was a fun moment for me — to think Adrienne Rich and I had similar taste in June Jordan poetry. And I’m going to use that Adrienne Rich introduction to justify cheating just a little bit today and sneaking in two poems, both quoted in Rich’s introduction: I believe Jordan wrote these two poems years apart, but they share a theme of the fluctuation of distance and closeness, impermenance and certainty, in long-term relationships.
Enjoy.
Ellen
SUNFLOWER SONNET NUMBER TWO
Supposing we could just go on and on as two
voracious in the days apart as well as when
we side by side (the many ways we do
that) well! I would consider then
perfection possible, or else worthwhile
to think about. Which is to say
I guess the costs of long term tend to pile
up, block and complicate, erase away
the accidental, temporary, near
thing/pulsebeat promises one makes
because the chance, the easy new, is there
in front of you. But still, perfection takes
some sacrifice of falling stars for rare.
And there are stars, but none of you, to spare.
***
POEM NUMBER TWO ON BELL’S THEOREM,
OR THE NEW PHYSICALITY OF LONG DISTANCE LOVE
There is no chance that we will fall apart
There is no chance
There are no parts.
P.S. You don’t need a physics background to understand this poem, but for the curious: “Bell’s Theorem” refers to a debated concept in quantum physics — something about how an action on one subatomic particle can affect another subatomic particle instanteously, even if the particles are universes apart.* Language that physicists (including Einstein) use to talk about this particular theorem includes “quantum entanglement,” “non-locality,” and ”spooky actions at a distance” — just the sort of poetic phrases that would catch the attention of a romantic like Jordan in a physics article or textbook.
For me, knowing the physics reference does make a difference in how I read Jordan’s use of the phrase “There is no chance.” That brazen, very American “I have 100% control over my own (relationship’s) destiny” attitude is still there. But there’s also a more literal, physical (subatomic-particle-level physical) reading — an almost opposite feeling of giving 100% control over to the universe and trusting in its mysteries we only scratch the surface of understanding.
* Physicists on this email list: Please speak up and clarify if I’ve misrepesented Bell here!