Saul Bass, graphic designer

We use death because it contains
all life the way we use black

for all colors, & light.
&c. for all words & allegory

for meaning. Meaning for all
people is not the same. We take

people for individuals. An
individual for one. & one

because all numbers go on
their daily tasks

with it in their chests
like a rib, almost unaware

of it in their solitude.
Solitude for its tin-can

telephone that leads from
the mouth to the empty

ear. & emptiness
which holds nothing.

& nothing for the way it dances
without a partner

or rank toward oblivion
which takes

us in & yet does not
grow any larger. We don’t,

in the end, have to make
these figures whole.

A rule: See a hand,
assume a body;

see an eye, expect a
soul.

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