A Poetry Syllabus
{An Umbrella Special Feature}


Rick Mullin

is a painter and journalist whose poetry has appeared in Measure, Unsplendid, The Chimaera, The Raintown Review, Envoi, and other print and online journals.

His chapbook Aquinas Flinched is available from Modern Metrics, New York, and his book-length poem, Huncke, is forthcoming from Seven Towers, Dublin.


—Back to Extra Links—

Sonnet to Modern Science “The first step towards the attainment of a real discovery
was the humiliating confession of ignorance.”
—Humphry Davy

Myopic genius, struggling in the dark
to find a switch installed so many years
ago, put down your hands and face the stark
reality. Forget the chandeliers
you count on to illuminate a world
of walls, for they are gone with your succinct
mathematics. The discoveries you squirreled,
those notebooks and the hard drives are extinct.
You’ll have to trust your instincts after all
and maybe listen to another voice
that sings to you from far outside this hall.
You’ll recognize it now, you have no choice.
There isn’t any guidance on the shelf.
The light is in the world outside yourself.



 
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