Uncertainty
Phil Elverum
Go out of your house before you go to the bedroom
Go out the door and into the night
Walk past the parked car, walk past the neighbors’
Walk past the darkened corner where, seeing nothing
The wild air says “Goodnight”
Alone and never showing, at the edge of streetlight light
With one foot in the cold air
The death and delight of not knowing
Where your certainty comes from
Half of your body is hidden from sight
Your eyes have finished adjusting
And still you’re surrounded by an ocean of black
There are sounds now from all sides
Go back to your house and go into the bedroom
Go to bed having smelled the night
This is how uncertainty holds us
On the street in the wind, in a blanket in the snow
Saying “Don’t get used to it”