But I am not concerned with you.
I have forgotten you.
I am a naked candle burning on your grave.
_LADY WIFE_
AH yes, I know you well, a sojourner At the hearth; I know right well the marriage ring you wear, And what it"s worth.
The angels came to Abraham, and they stayed In his house awhile; So you to mine, I imagine; yes, happily Condescend to be vile.
I see you all the time, you bird-blithe, lovely Angel in disguise.
I see right well how I ought to be grateful, Smitten with reverent surprise.
Listen, I have no use For so rare a visit; Mine is a common devil"s Requisite.
Rise up and go, I have no use for you And your blithe, glad mien.
No angels here, for me no G.o.ddesses, Nor any Queen.
Put ashes on your head, put sackcloth on And learn to serve.
You have fed me with your sweetness, now I am sick, As I deserve.
Queens, ladies, angels, women rare, I have had enough.
Put sackcloth on, be crowned with powdery ash, Be common stuff.
And serve now woman, serve, as a woman should, Implicitly.
Since I must serve and struggle with the imminent Mystery.
Serve then, I tell you, add your strength to mine Take on this doom.
What are you by yourself, do you think, and what The mere fruit of your womb?
What is the fruit of your womb then, you mother, you queen, When it falls to the ground?
Is it more than the apples of Sodom you scorn so, the men Who abound?
Bring forth the sons of your womb then, and put them Into the fire Of Sodom that covers the earth; bring them forth From the womb of your precious desire.
You woman most holy, you mother, you being beyond Question or diminution, Add yourself up, and your seed, to the nought Of your last solution.
_BOTH SIDES OF THE MEDAL_
AND because you love me think you you do not hate me?
Ha, since you love me to ecstasy it follows you hate me to ecstasy.
Because when you hear me go down the road outside the house you must come to the window to watch me go, do you think it is pure worship?
Because, when I sit in the room, here, in my own house, and you want to enlarge yourself with this friend of mine, such a friend as he is, yet you cannot get beyond your awareness of me you are held back by my being in the same world with you, do you think it is bliss alone?
sheer harmony?
No doubt if I were dead, you must reach into death after me, but would not your hate reach even more madly than your love?
your impa.s.sioned, unfinished hate?
Since you have a pa.s.sion for me, as I for you, does not that pa.s.sion stand in your way like a Balaam"s a.s.s?
and am I not Balaam"s a.s.s golden-mouthed occasionally?
But mostly, do you not detest my bray?
Since you are confined in the orbit of me do you not loathe the confinement?
Is not even the beauty and peace of an orbit an intolerable prison to you, as it is to everybody?
But we will learn to submit each of us to the balanced, eternal orbit wherein we circle on our fate in strange conjunction.
What is chaos, my love?
It is not freedom.
A disarray of falling stars coming to nought.
_LOGGERHEADS_
PLEASE yourself how you have it.
Take my words, and fling Them down on the counter roundly; See if they ring.
Sift my looks and expressions, And see what proportion there is Of sand in my doubtful sugar Of verities.
Have a real stock-taking Of my manly breast; Find out if I"m sound or bankrupt, Or a poor thing at best.
For I am quite indifferent To your dubious state, As to whether you"ve found a fortune In me, or a flea-bitten fate.
Make a good investigation Of all that is there, And then, if it"s worth it, be grateful-- If not then despair.
If despair is our portion Then let us despair.
Let us make for the weeping willow.
I don"t care.
_DECEMBER NIGHT_
TAKE off your cloak and your hat And your shoes, and draw up at my hearth Where never woman sat.
I have made the fire up bright; Let us leave the rest in the dark And sit by firelight.
The wine is warm in the hearth; The flickers come and go.
I will warm your feet with kisses Until they glow.
_NEW YEAR"S EVE_
THERE are only two things now, The great black night scooped out And this fire-glow.
This fire-glow, the core, And we the two ripe pips That are held in store.