One by one they appear inthe darkness: a few friends, anda few with historical names. How late they start to shine!but before they fade they standperfectly embodied, allthe past lapping them like a cloak of chaos. They were menwho, I thought, lived only torenew the wasteful force theyspent with each hot convulsion.They remind me, distant [...]

The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over the bright path he makes, where rain has darkened the earth’s dark. He moves in a wood of desire, pale antlers barely stirring as he hunts. I cannot tell what power is at work, drenched there with purpose, [...]

As you beganYou’ll end the year with me.We’ll hug each other while we can.Work or stray while we must.Nothing is, or will ever be,Mine, I suppose. No one can hold a heart,But what we hold in trustWe do hold, even apart.The Dump  He died, and I admired the crisp vehemence of a lifetime reduced to half [...]

I wake up cold, I whoProspered through dreams of heat Wake to their residue, Sweat, and a clinging sheet. My flesh was its own shield: Where it was gashed, it healed.I grew as I explored The body I could trust Even while I adoredThe risk that made robust,A world of wonders inEach challenge to the [...]

The Hug  It was your birthday, we had drunk and dinedHalf of the night with our old friendWho’d showed us in the endTo a bed I reached in one drunk stride.Already I lay snug,And drowsy with the wine dozed on one side.I dozed, I slept. My sleep broke on a hug,Suddenly, from behind,In which the full [...]

While this exchange of pleasantries took place between the twoRalph Touchett wandered away a little, with his usual slouchinggait, his hands in his pockets and his little rowdyish terrier athis heels. His face was turned toward the house, but his eyeswere bent musingly on the lawn; so that he had been an object ofobservation to [...]

“Daniel”Daniel is travelling tonight on a planeI can see the red tail lights heading for SpainOh and I can see Daniel waving goodbyeGod it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyesThey say Spain is pretty though I’ve never beenWell Daniel says it’s the best place that he’s ever seenOh and he should [...]

Poor Winterbourne was amused, perplexed, and decidedly charmed. He had never yet heard a young girl express herself in just this fashion; never, at least, save in cases where to say such things seemed a kind of demonstrative evidence of a certain laxity of deportment. And yet was he to accuse Miss Daisy Miller of [...]

It’s a human sign When things go wrong When the scent of her lingers And temptation’s strong Into the boundary Of each married man Sweet deceit comes calling And negativity lands Cold cold heart Hard done by you Some things look better baby Just passing through And it’s no sacrifice Just a simple word It’s [...]