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II. Homunculus

By Eileen R. Tabios b. 1960

HOMONCULUS: n., pl. –li 2. a fully formed, miniature human body believed, according to some medical theories of the 16th and 17th centuries, to be contained in the spermatozoon
— The Random House Dictionary of the English Language

The political contributions of whatever he creates are coincidental

and, in any event, irrelevant. The musician may not be relying on

mathematical acoustics in his calculations. He may be performing

for auditoriums; thus, his physical realities change as he travels. Music

seems inevitable. Every question entails some notion of what is being asked.

The motley nature is not alien. Certain sounds guide the vulgar mind

to notions not anticipated by those creating the sounds. A bartender

concocts an Absolut Citroen gimlet, ice-cold but no ice, with one hand;

“with the other hand he gathers up gonorrhea.” Most of what is imparted

is not verbal. Certain philosophers must be translated before their audiences

can respond. The mind is made visible through unconscious functions.

The academic is always searching for the plumber. He is faithful to innocence.

Order is space and space is order. Order is space and space is order.

After being disaffected with Impressionism, Renoir felt he had to learn to draw

and paint all over again. In Germany, an aesthetic movement became political

and was forced to renounce art without realizing a decision had been made.

A philosopher did not realize that the man who expelled poetry from

well-ordered republics used to tremble at the thought of doing so,

thereby creating through that very act a sublime poetry.

Eileen Tabios, “II. Homunculus” from The Thorn Rosary. Copyright © 2010 by Eileen Tabios. Reprinted by permission of Marsh Hawk Press.

Source: The Thorn Rosary (Marsh Hawk Press, 2010)

Biography

Poet and writer Eileen Tabios was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States when she was 10. She earned a BA in political science from Barnard College and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Founder and editor of the online poetry review journal GALATEA RESURRECTS (A POETRY ENGAGEMENT), Tabios has authored essays, fiction, and collections of mixed-genre writing. Her collections of poetry . . .

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