April 1, 1959
Lighting Fires in Snow¹
Tread out a marble hollow Then lay the twigs athwart, Teepee-wise or wigwam, So that the air can follow The match-flame from the start: As we begin a poem And some […]
April 1, 1959
The Myopic Musician
Unless the apple show teeth-marks, or the vase The smudge of a half-patched crack where somebody once, By temper, accident, or perverse design, Placed some impression of himself, still-lifes Don’t […]
April 1, 1959
The After-Dream
E quando ella fosse alquanto propinqua al salutare, uno spirito d’Amore, distruggendo tutti gli altri spiriti sensitivi, pingea fuori i deboletti spiriti del viso, e dicca loro: “Andate ad onorare […]
April 1, 1959
The Screens
SCREEN, n. and v.t. Partition of wood or stone separating without completely cutting off one part of church or room from another, esp. that between nave and choir of cathedral, […]
October 1, 1947
An Apprehension
An apprehension rose in me to be alive. The crest concealed my memory from view And made the past a death and made it new. If there were blues in […]
October 1, 1947
Expectation
Four hundred children expect from one another Each what from himself he has ceased to demand, Each demanding, because as from his brother, Degree of devotion none can understand. So […]
October 1, 1947
Kind
When I think of my kindness which is tentative and quiet And of yours which is intense and free, I am in elaboration of knowledge impatient Of even the patientest […]
October 1, 1947
Riddle
You are a riddle I would not unravel,You are the riddle my life comprehends.And who abstracts the marvelAbstracts the story to its sorriest ends.But not your riddle. It is patent, […]
October 1, 1947
Wind of Spain
Down from the hills the wind came striding and striding, And it was cool as the dark coral hermitage of fish Where it rinsed the boughs of the olive trees […]
October 1, 1947
The Duet
All winter long the huge sad lady Sang to her warm house of the heart betrayed:— Love lies delirious and a-dying; The purlieus are shaken by his sharp cry. But back […]
October 1, 1947
Dream
Saliva swims around the empty tooth Of an old man, sleeping within the park. Between the bushes, Evening slips along, Trailing a violet and orange song, And followed closely by […]
October 1, 1947
From Ancient Fangs
(The time of this poem is in the far future, shortly after peace and love return to earth.) I. Like lamp of intricate stained glass which hangs From curved blue […]