Common Knowledge

on the street
in a towering summer heat-wave

a young girl hops
with her hands over her ears

her behaviour is a little odd
there is something beautiful about her

oddness and a so-called beauty
this gives people

the feelings they want
but they pay no attention

to the cause and the source
of her actions

but I know
I have mastered such common knowledge

as a boy
on the way home from the swimming pool

the same movements
would help me get rid of

any last remaining water in my eyes or ears
hotly it would trickle away

and I would then be able to hear the surrounding world again
just like the young girl here before me

I’m sure she’s feeling pretty good
right now

hopping with her hands over her ears
on the street in a towering summer heat-wave

such common knowledge as this
has helped me find a way into a poetry of essentials

COMMON KNOWLEDGE