The Idea of Order at Key West

She sang beyond the genius of the sea. The water never formed of itself alone; The sea was made of her. She was the maker.

The song was hers; in it, she spoke to the sea. The sea did not exist until she sang, And the sea made of her a being of her own.

The words were surplus, for they could not tell Of a world where nature met the voice.

If it was not for the song, there would be no world, And the world she made was a world of her own.

— Wallace Stevens

• Wallace Stevens