"Permanently" A poem by Kenneth Koch (1925 - 2002)

"Permanently"
 by Kenneth Koch


One day the Nouns were clustered in the street.

An Adjective walked by, with her dark beauty.

The Nouns were struck, moved, changed.

The next day a Verb drove up, and created the Sentence.



Each Sentence says one thing—for example, “Although it was a dark rainy day when

the Adjective walked by, I shall remember the pure and sweet expression on her face

until the day I perish from the green, effective earth."

Or, “Will you please close the window, Andrew?”

Or, for example, “Thank you, the pink pot of flowers on the window sill has changed color

recently to a light yellow, due to the heat from the boiler factory which exists nearby.”



In the springtime the Sentences and the Nouns lay silently on the grass.

A lonely Conjunction here and there would call, “And! But!”

But the Adjective did not emerge.



As the Adjective is lost in the sentence,

So I am lost in your eyes, ears, nose, and throat—

You have enchanted me with a single kiss

Which can never be undone

Until the destruction of language