Saturday, October 3, 2020

 Today, what line of poetry would dare allude to the phoenix or make itself the promenade of a centaur? None; but no poetry, however modern, is unhappy to be a nest of angels and to shine brightly with them. I always imagine them at nightfall, in the dusk of a slum or a vacant lot, in that long, quiet moment when things are gradually left alone, with their backs to the sunset, and when colors are like memories or premonitions of other colors. We must not be too prodigal with our angels; they are the last divinities we harbor, and they might fly away.

Jorge Luis Borges, "A History of Angels" 1926


Actually, plenty of poets would allude to the phoenix or to centaurs. But I like the rest of this so much that I will ignore that quibble.