rejected things

 

After the final no there comes a yes
And on that yes the future world depends.
No was the night. Yes is this present sun.
If the rejected things, the things denied,
Slid over the western cataract, yet one,
One only, one thing that was firm, even

One thing remaining, infallible, would be
Enough.

 

from Wallace Steevens, The Well Dressed Man With A Beard