David Lang

On the Dais

I stand in front of the group, A twenty-year-old.
Fifty people seated.
What was I, the shy one, going to say?

I looked, nervous, at who they were
looking at, the shy one, the young one
on the dais, on view
without a plan.

And suddenly I was Hydra. I was
the mythic creature, head
chopped off and in its place,
grown, your fifty heads
I said.

David Lang



Am I Awake?

Am I awake only when the geese
Are flying over the dawn waters,
Or when, the light being low, and the sea
Is heard like a breeze caressing the Nought,
My neighbour's face looks this way into Nothing?

Or do I in utter silence sometimes hear
My own dumbfoundedness?

David Lang



Night Of Day
(Song)

Minutes melt away like snow
Situations come and go
The door is open and I leave
Like the falling of a leaf
No one stands on the road
No one stands on the path
No one stands in the place of my soul

Like a song I make my way
I begin and fall away
Though I run with all my heart
Each finish is a start
Looking out at the sun
Looking out at the moon
Looking out of the night of day

David Lang