Exercise

W. S. MerwinW. S. Merwin

1 min read · 12.4K reads

First forget what time it is
for an hour
do it regularly every daythen forget what day of the week it is
do this regularly for a week
then forget what country you are in
and practice doing it in company
for a week
then do them together
for a week
with as few breaks as possiblefollow these by forgetting how to add
or to subtract
it makes no difference
you can change them around
after a week
both will help you later
to forget how to countforget how to count
starting with your own age
starting with how to count backward
starting with even numbers
starting with Roman numerals
starting with fractions of Roman numerals
starting with the old calendar
going on to the old alphabet
going on to the alphabet
until everything is continuous againgo on to forgetting elements
starting with water
proceeding to earth
rising in fireforget fire
W. S. Merwin
About the poet

W. S. Merwin

1927 - Present/AmericanWilliam Stanley Merwin is an American poet. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 80s and 90s, Merwin's writing influence derived from his in…

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