Clouds flung back Make fan-shaped rays of faded crimson Brocaded on dim blue satin; Through the wrinkled dust-blue water The little boat Glides above its sunken shadow.

ECHO LOOKS AT HERSELF

The ship pa.s.ses in the night And drags jagged reflections Like gilded combs Through the obscure water.

Spun gla.s.s daisies float on a gold-washed mirror.

SPELL

In the dark I can hear the patter.

Bare white feet are running across the water.

White feet as bright as silver Are flashing under dull blue dresses.

Wet palms beat, Impatiently, Petulantly, Slapping the wet rocks.

HUNGRY SHADOWS

RAINY TWILIGHT

Dim gold faces float in the windows.

Dim gold faces and gilded arms...

They are clinging along the silver ladders of rain; They are climbing with ivory lamps held high, Starry lamps Over which the silver ladders Thicken into nets of twilight.

THE STORM

Herds of black elephants, Rushing over the plains, Trample the stars.

The ivory tusk of the leader (Or is it the moon?) Flashes, and is gone.

Tree tops bend; Crash; Fire from hoofs; And still they rush on, Trampling the stars, Bellowing, Roaring.

NYMPHS

The drift of shadows on the mountainside, Blue and purple gold!

Purple dust sifting through fingers of ivory: Cool purple on ivory b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

I see arms and b.r.e.a.s.t.s, Upturned chins, Slanting through the dust of purple leaves: Ivory and gold, Bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s and laughing eyes, That drift on the shadowy surf And surge against the side of the mountain.

WINTER DAWN

Cloudy dawn flower unfolds; Moon moth gyrates slowly; Snow maiden lets down her hair, And in one shining silence, It slips to earth.

THE WALL OF NIGHT

SPRINGTIME TOO SOON

The moon is a cool rose in a blue bowl.

There are no more birds.

The last leaf has fallen.

The trees in the twilight are naked old women.

The moon is an old woman at the door of her tomb.

Clouds combed out in the wind Are gray hair she has wound about her neck.

The water is an old gray face that mirrors the springtime.

STARS

Like naked maidens Dancing with no thought of lovers, Blinking stars with dewy silver b.r.e.a.s.t.s Pa.s.s through the darkness.

White and eager, They glide on Toward the gray meshed web of dawn

And the mystery of morning.

Then, About me, The white cloud walls Stand as sternly as sepulchers, And from all sides Peer and linger the startled faces, Pale in the harshness of the sunlight.

NIGHT MUSIC

Through the blue water of night Rises the white bubble of silence-- Rises, And breaks: The shivered crystal bell of the moon, Dying away in star splinters.

The still mists bear the sound Beyond the horizon.

NOCTURNE OF WATER

A shining bird plunges to the deep, Becomes entangled with seaweed, And never more emerges.

Pale golden feathers drift across the sky, Fire feathered clouds, Riding the weightless billows of back velvet On the horizon.

THE LONG MOMENT

A white sigh clouds the fields Into quietness.

Above the billowed snow I drift, One year, Two years, Three years.

Hurt eyes mist in the blue behind me.

The moon uncoils in glistening ropes And I glide downward along the dripping rays To a marble lake.

DESIGNS

I

Night

Fields of black tulips And swarms of gold bees Drinking their bitter honey.

II

New Moon

Above the gnarled old tree That clings to the bleakest side of the mountain, A torch of ivory and gold; And across the sky, The silver print Of spirit feet, Fled from the wonder.

III

Tropic Moon

The glowing anvil, Beaten by the winds; Star sparks, Burning and dying in the heavens; The furnace glare Red On the polished palm leaves.

IV

Winter Moon