December 10, 2024, Filed Under: Authors“Into the Emptiness” by Frederick Seidel Jerry Uelsmann (American, 1934–2022), Untitled, from Jerry Uelsmann: Portfolio 1959–1971, 1964; printed 1972. Gelatin silver print, 34.1 x 24.7 cm (image). Harry Ransom Center, Photography Collection, gift of Stephen and Joyce Latimer Hunt, 2024.0001.0018. “Into the Emptiness” by FREDERICK SEIDEL Into the emptiness that weighs More than the universe Another universe begins Smaller than the last. Begins to smaller Than the last. Dimensions Do not yet exist. My friend, the darkness Into which the seed Of all eleven dimensions Is planted is small. Travel with me back Before it grows to more. The church bell bongs, Which means it must be noon. Some are playing hopscotch Or skipping rope during recess, And some are swinging on swings, And seesaws are seesawing. That she is shy, Which means it must be May, Turns into virgin snow And walking mittened home with laughing friends. And the small birds singing, And the sudden silence, And the curtains billow, And the spring thunder will follow— And the rush of freshness, And the epileptic fit that foams. The universe does not exist Before it does. Courtesy of Frederick Seidel The papers of Frederick Seidel (b. 1936) held at the Ransom Center offer insights into the life and work of this celebrated, provocative, and elusive American poet. The archive includes handwritten poems and notes, pocket diaries and notebooks, correspondence, photographs, and other documentation of his writing career.
