Mark Turbyfill. The Power of Nothing. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

The Power of Nothing

By Mark Turbyfill


From “Voluntaries” I ONLY laughed,
As at a gauche mistake,
When I learned we had paid
With innocent counterfeit—
That such carnival, confetti,	5
Festival of flamingo fun,
We had danced for nothing spent:
So much brightness
All out of nothing!

But when I learned of my awkwardness—	10
Mistaking the denomination, color, design
Of a little word you gave me!—
And of the bright shapes of dreams
Germinated in my heart
All out of nothing,	15
I could not laugh any more;
For there was a sharp severing of slender unseen roots,
And that fruit which they bore
Fell dangling and bruised
From the tendrils and the vine.	20