"And you in your whiteness, bathing!"

IN A GARDEN
—Amy Lowell

Gushing from the mouth of stone men
To spread at ease under the sky
In granite-lipped basins,
Where iris dabble their feet
And rustle to a passing wind,
The water fills the garden with its rushing,
In the midst of the quiet of close-clipped lawns.

Damp smell the ferns in tunnels of stone,
Where trickle and plash the fountains,
Marble fountains, yellowed with much water.

Splashing down moss-tarnished steps
It falls, the water;
And the air is throbbing with it;
With its gurgling and running;
With its leaping, and deep, cool murmur.

And I wished for night and you.
I wanted to see you in the swimming pool,
White and shining in the silver-flecked water.

While the moon rode over the garden,
High in the arch of night,
And the scent of the lilacs was heavy with stillness.

Night and the water, and you in your whiteness, bathing!

_________________________

Joyce Odam and I have been reading Amy Lowell, who time threatens to forget. Here are two more based on her recurring theme of the fountain:


BRIGHT SUNLIGHT
—Amy Lowell

The wind has blown a corner of your shawl
Into the fountain,
Where it floats and drifts
Among the lily-pads
Like a tissue of sapphires.
But you do not heed it,
Your fingers pick at the lichens
On the stone edge of the basin,
And your eyes follow the tall clouds
As they sail over the ilex-trees.


THE BROKEN FOUNTAIN
—Amy Lowell

Objong, its jutted ends rounding into circles,
The old sunken basin lies with its flat, marble lip
An inch below the terrace tiles.
Over the stagnant water
Slide reflections:
The blue-green of coned yews,
The purple and red of trailing fuchsias
Dripping out of marble urns,
Bright squares of sky
Ribbed by the wake of a swimming beetle.
Through the blue-bronze water
Wavers the pale uncertainty of a shadow.
An arm flashes through the reflections,
A breast is outlined with leaves.
Outstretched in the quiet water
The statue of a Goddess slumbers.
But when Autumn comes
The beech leaves cover her with a golden counter-pane.

______________________

Thanks, Amy! Girlfriend sure could write about, well, girlfriend...

Last's night's reading was excellent; a small but vociferous group supported Ron's new book. Ron Tranquilla is a great reader! Todd Cirillo also read a few poems from his new broadside. In all, it was a good evening, and thanks to those who came.

Thanks also to Richard Hansen, for opening his store to us again. Coincidentally, The Sacramento Bee Business section has an article about independent bookstores, today, and how they have to have "niche markets" in order to survive. We are SO lucky that the Hansens have made a home for Sacramento's wandering poets.

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets.