Robert Creeley: "Credo"

Creo que si ... I believe   

it will rain

tomorrow ... I believe   

the son of a bitch

is going into the river ...

I believe All men are

created equal—By your   

leave a leafy

shelter over the exposed   

person—I’m a

believer creature

of habit but without

out there a void of   

pattern older

older the broken   

pieces no longer

salvageable bits

but incommensurate   

chips yet must

get it back together.

In God we

trust emptiness privilege   

will not not perish

perish from this earth—

In particular echo

of inside pushes

at edges all these years   

collapse in slow motion.

The will to believe,   

the will to be good,   

the will to want

a way out—

Humanness, like

you, man. Us—pun

for once beyond reflective   

mirror of brightening prospect?

I believe what it was   

was a hope it could be   

somehow what it was   

and would so continue.

A plank to walk out on,

fair enough. Jump! said the pirate.   

Believe me if all

those endearing young charms ...   

Here, as opposed to there,   

even in confusions there seems   

still a comfort,

still a faith.

I’d as lief

not leave, not   

go away, not   

not believe.

I believe in belief ...   

All said, whatever I can think of   

comes from there,

goes there.

As it gets now impossible   

to say, it’s your hand

I hold to, still

your hand.

Source: The Collected Poems of Robert Creeley, 1975-2005. (University of California Press, 2006)