"(one never knows, do one?)
it is twelve minutes to eleven
now
pines solitaire
bow to a sun larking
in our sky
girls saunter
ripples on the volcanic lake
animals, doing their thing
(they ought to get a monster here
a big brown brute original)
a trace of the great seal"
XI
June, (jour d'anno), the fiery season
Needs tumbling from our skies
Our faces alive with pleasure
Our histories meek mysteries
Our wishes, skilfully cloaked fears
Run like sand from deep within
Waiting for good
Caught stealing time
Your body a temple
Don’t forget the guide
XII
We learned Mercurial thoughts
Mouths full, fasting and weeping
Ever open wounds
Blissful dissolution
All flows like leaves in rivers
Still moving our darting eyes
I know it is but sunlight piercing foliage
But what a wondrous sight, though, still
Drips like dripping mercury
Honey dripping signs
"fortunately
not everything was erased
the dog quiet now, you hear
wisps of wavering clouds
still linger
nearly blue in green and grey
(was it the same, then)
someone tries to impress our girls
proud young pine
looking stern"
XIII
Where does pining love go
My wild bronze mountain girl
You captivate our longing
In future frozen grace
We shield ourselves from this glow
Impatient, burning, wait for our share
(Follow me then, silly oaf)
She spins sleepily round her legs
Know she stores endless love
Slices of our hearts
XIV
Please don't look back
You see nothing but green
And then, one colour shows
One luminous smooth copper beech
He directs sun in our eyes
This gracious shimmer of guess what
We believe we deserve this bliss
But nobody shows we care
So, don't look, do nothing
See nothing, just watch
“this light is all we see
girls made of moon
visible skin blushing
when they see something
pointing
and laugh and touch
(vistas like sir Laurens’)
I remember
I let my hungry body feed
this is where we learn”
XV
Felt dawn, a fragrant mist
Her gates flood open
The lovely smelling hill
Could this sweet Parnassos be
A rock-carved idol guard
Sternly at the entrance
Another truth in gorgeous form
This is how we let all fear go
The entrance to the cave
Shows real clouds
XVI
This was once old Hyele
The city of paradoxes, now out of time
Here the traveller’s wide hat bobbed
In narrow streets of garlic oil and fish
Brimming baskets full of fruit
Reed shields clouding eyes and
Sun-warm nodding priest-heads
A golden age, just dozing
We stumble, step by dreamy step
On strong legs, sunspots in our eyes
"I held once your radiant face
a galaxy floating in sunlight
softly sinking to the earth
invisible and tiny specks
of our new bodies
ecstatic dancing
you see"
XVII
A shepherd bends over his crooked wand
His harsh voice a guarded bell
You can almost hear the biblical goats
Here emerge sound-born words
Again, the eating and drinking
Heather tolerating moony herds
Dogless, you keep to yourself
A vision, resting for a while
The cup, a bell; “dan din don”
Reverberating secrets
XVIII
Chasing nearly lost time
You have lifted me
And I have kissed
That wondrous smile in your sleep
First light touches
Heavenless dreams
This girl, her closed eyes
She has come a long way
And now we are here
Enjoy that lichen smile
"you are ever changing light
ever silent, monochrome dunes
you are a moving sea
a floating seabird
beaming child
shining elf
my sweet smelling sheltering hawthorn
bending in storms
that is
is what I would say"
XIX
Madrigals outside of time
Slim poplars standing singing
A delicate bridge, hardly supported
Water the colour of armour
We are jumping on the banks
Excited by the clawing lyres
And clusters of fearsome warriors
Flash-fighting around young virgins
All the time we hear them sighing pines
Spheres, flowing, sub-celestial
XX
If then, like they say, the maker
Etched words on these washed walls
And hermetically sealed creations
All is still in his palm
His mouth still cooling his seal
Our hearts the wax
We never dreamed of moving
Sullen victims of creation
Are we chosen hermits
Are we gospel