LIIII POOOOO

Beginning Again

“If I could stop talking, completely
cease talking for a year, I might begin
to get well,” he muttered.
Off alone again performing
brain surgery on himself
in a small badly lit
room with no mirror. A room
whose floor ceiling and walls
are all mirrors, what a mess
oh my God—

And still
it stands,
the question
not how begin
again, but rather

Why?

So we sit there
together
the mountain
and me, Li Po
said, until only the mountain
remains.

—Franz Wright


I don't particularly understand this poem, but I believe it shows a level of introspection. Li Po was a chinese poet, so the narrator is indeed alone- which brings more light to the poem- this person is talking about how go in and go out, the actions that he does do not affect the mountain- though change is all around us, some things appear to remain constant. He performs brain surgery on himself, trying to change himself. It is a mess. There is a mess when he is alone. If he stops talking, he is trying to keep a constant- as speech- action- is change. However he can not prevent that so he is performing brain surgery. Not literally, of course, but forcing himself to be what he can't by changing his mannerism and be silent to try to "heal". This is the metaphorical brain surgery. I am not sure how exactly the poet plays in, but the mountain remaining symbolizes constance.