The Idea of Order at Key West

She sang beyond the genius of the sea. The water never formed to mind Of man and was without learning… She sang—as if the sea had life, Behind her, a kind of remembering.

The sun was made to listen that day, As she sang avant the imposition of silence, I of no consequence, at her behest, With her stare upon the water beyond.

It was the sea-glass, the way it moved, A distance where there is no depth, With a singer’s song, cold and warm…

All the world listening in her light, Gaining that world, becoming mortal. The waters were imitating her body And the air hummed while the trees swayed, The question came down as the horizon broke.

• Wallace Stevens