Last Light, last night

In this summer heat, the evenings are balmy and pleasant outdoors. 

I brought my gift Christmas aloe outside and it is looking happier, too!

Whispered ---

Words

just small

small words

whispered

almost without breath

for us

like broken straw

words without light

and almost without form

words among tree

small half-words

that lie asleep 

for us.

Amidst all that is great

small, small words

to keep hidden 

on the back of a hand

or your earlobe

small words

utterly without light

like animals

or grass.

Rolf Jacobsen

The Roads Have Come to an End Now; 
selected and last poems of Rolf Jacobsen, 
Copper Canyon Press, 2001, page 101. 
(Bilingual edition with the Norwegian text on the facing page.)

This poem uses mostly one-syllable words. There are 11 two-syllable words;
the only three-syllable words (two of them) are in the last three lines.
This structural plan, and the title, make this a very quiet poem.