What then did you project
upon Persephone when you
saw her simply dressed in
flowing cloth that made her
seem more naked

Or was it Eurydice after all
Whom I saw descend into darkness
Wrapped in layers of bright light
And not Persephone as I had thought

A native of the Balkans, Himalayas,
and Southwest China, with vast forests
even now in Kyrgyzstan, the Ancient
Greeks took the Persian walnut from Iran

This cartel of cats, this “Cat 7,”
this parliament of robber barons,
gathering in an uneasy peace,

Ourania sends me ….
in a ship brimming with … gifts,
songs!

Seated by this shallow river
at what was its deep and mid point
in December…

Believing love comes only toward perfect beings,
I, knowing myself imperfect,
thought all who loved me fools
Or else myself a thief.

Sharp night on a body
my moon in the sheer night
the body in a clear moon
with brown buildings in white light

I am the key, the key button, action bracket,
Jack and let-off rail; sostenuto rod, ivory,
Back-check, hammer-rest and repetition lever

Morning, multiplex loam blooming
in round billows awash through mind;
Phæton tiding in cool dawn; as his wave
broadens its surge, its deep

I speak of the previous person
Whose hands these are, and whose eyes;
Whose cares and whose coffins core these phrases
Whose black-wheeler braked in sidetrack,
Stropped the line where spun a seer’s death