That sort of thing puts noses out of joint?
ALL IS NOT FOR ALL WHY THEN COMMUNICATE? WHY THE CHANCE
MEETING IN THE FIELD? WE NEED SPOKESMEN WE NEED TO AFFECT
MINDS FOR AS U KNOW, TO CREATE OR TO SIMPLY HAVE A
BEAUTIFUL REALIZATION & NOT TO SHARE IT IS
THE STUFF OF GRIEVING. THERE! BY NOW IN IMAGINATION
OUR PATIENT IS FAR AWAY HIS TV GLOWS TILL ALL HOURS
HIS CHART IS NORMAL. SO NOW WE APPROACH THE LAST BUT ONE
MY DEARS AM I UP TO IT? LET’S SEE:
U ARE U & WE ARE WE
And? That’s the first line—what comes after? THAT’S
IT: INTRODUCTION Oh. Have those censor bats
Disappeared by now? 2 LAST ONES GLOWER
SOUTHWEST & NORTHEAST THESE WILL I FANCY SEE
US THRU OUR LESSONS FOR THEY HAVE THE LOOK
OF BEING TOP BRASS IN THE HIERARCHY,
FRIGHTFULLY UP ON THINGS Graves claims there were
Not seven Titans but fourteen. MY DEAR
CAN ONE TRUST POOR RG? A USEFUL HACK
BUT HIS WHITE GODDESS? WE REMAIN I FEAR
IN A MALE WORLD DESPITE HIS DRUDGERY:
SO WISE OF HOMER JUST TO HAVE SAT BACK
What else is new? MM’S CREAM ROBE A RED
TINGED CAMELLIA THESE LAST 8 DAYS RELEASE
US FROM THE SALT MINES Getting what instead?
PEACE IT’S RATHER CHARMING ACTUALLY
Have you seen Chester? DIDN’T I SAY PEACE?
8.8
Tap on the door and in strolls Robert Morse,
Closest of summer friends in Stonington.
(The others are his Isabel, of course,
And Grace and Eleanor—to think what fun
We’ve had throughout the years on Water Street…)
He, if no more the youthful fifty-one
Of that first season, ’s no less the complete
Amateur. Fugue by fugue Bach’s honeycomb
Drips from his wrists—then, whoops! the Dolly Suite.
He’s painted us beneath a stained-glass dome,
Six pensive posers, to commemorate
Our “Surly Temple”. Sonnets dated “Rome,
Djerba, Minorca, 1928”
Exhale, like smelling salts, their timeless blue-
Period feelings. Wystan saw one late
Tour de force by Robert, and asked to
Include it in A Certain World—q.v.,
Under Spoonerisms. Much of this is true.
True also, faced with a complacency
Laid light as silver leaf upon nightmare,
Is that his life is over. Liver, knee,
Bulge of bloodshot eye, fallout of hair…
And yet he “knows”. And this is what we need:
Someone on Earth to take our straightest chair
And speak of Mirabell (we’ve let him read
Our talks to date) with soothing if perplexed
Comprehension: “Ephraim had to lead
Precisely here”—tapping the monstrous text,
Raw revelation typed to maximum
Illegibility. “Ah, lads, it’s taxed
My venerable beads. Me giddy fwom
Uppercut of too much upper case.
(A weak one, if you please. Most kind. Yum-yum.)
Everything in Dante knew its place.
In this guidebook of yours, how do you tell
Up from down? Is Heaven’s interface
What your new friends tactfully don’t call Hell?
Splendid as metaphor. The real no-no
Is jargon, falling back on terms that smell
Just a touch fishy when the tide is low:
‘Molecular structures’—cup and hand—obey
‘Electric waves’? Don’t dream of saying so!
—So says this dinosaur whom Chem 1A
Thrilled, sort of. Even then I put the heart
Before the course…” And at the door: “Today
We celebrate Maria’s Himmelfahrt
And yours. You’re climbing, do you know how high?
While tiny me, unable to take part,
Waves you onward. Don’t look down. Goodbye.”
—Answered with two blithe au reservoirs,
He’s gone. Our good friend. As it strikes me, my
Head is in my hands. I’m seeing stars.
8.9
OUR CIRCLE CHARMED BY RM DID I HEAR
SOME E F BENSON BABYTALK? Indeed!
(Alluding to the novels we reread—
And reenact—each summer.) HE’LL FIT RIGHT
IN & SOON. Ah, don’t! MME IN WHITE
TRIMMED WITH EMBROIDERIES BLUE GREEN YELLOW RED
SO LIKE THE LOVELY TITIAN IN THE FRARI
In Venice, of the cherub-wafted Virgin
God waits with open arms for. DEAR ENFANTS
NEARLY AFLOAT TODAY ONE BARE TOEHOLD
Your name day! Ah Maria, we’re such dolts.
Not until Robert mentioned it— SHAPE UP
MY DEARS JUST FANCY HAVING TO BE TOLD
AT THIS LATE DATE ABOUT THE MOLECULES!
WHATEVER DID THEY TEACH U IN YR SCHOOLS?
2: WE MET ON THIS FAIR FIELD & SEEM BY ITS EASE TO BE
IN CONVERSE YET WE ARE ALL THE DEAD & YOU THE LIVING.
THAT U DO NOT DOUBT US IS WONDER ENOUGH THAT OTHERS
DO IS NONE THEY & U SHARE A DAILY LIFE WHOSE DEMANDS
LIKE USEFUL PIECES OF FURNITURE FILL THE LIVING ROOM
& OUR GREAT ORNAMENTAL & BIZARRE OBJECT HARDLY
ABLE TO BE GOT THRU THE DOOR IS IF NOT LAUGHABLE
AT THE LEAST ODD TO HOUSE YET U HOUSE US FOR ALL THAT WE
DO LITTLE BUT TAKE UP YR ROOM THIS IS DO U NOT GRANT
RECKLESS? BUT BELIEVE ME MORE RECKLESS OF US TO MOVE IN,
FOR HOUSES OF THE LIVING CHANGE WITH A SPEED WE DO NOT
KNOW AT ANY MOMENT WE CAN BE EVICTED THE DOOR
SLAMMD BEHIND US THIS U MIGHT THINK WD LEAVE US NO WORSE OFF
THAN B4, BUT MARK THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU & US:
YOU DAILY USE & SHUFFLE OFF YR CELLS WE DO NOT WE
ACCUMULATE THRU YOU A KNOWLEDGE THAT MUST HENCEFORTH BE
PART OF US IN A REALM BEYOND THE GREAT GOLDFRAMED MIRROR
ITS SILVER FIELD FILLD WITH THE OBJECTS OF YR ATTENTION
LIKE A DAILY FEAST & IF YOU HAVE WONDERD WHY WE COME
& MORE, WHY ONE OF THE WHITE SHD RISK HIMSELF: YR FIELD IS
YES A KIND OF ANCHOR POINT OF HEAVEN. O SCRIBE, O HAND
U HAVE PAID YR DUES AGAIN & AGAIN FOR WHO LIVING
WELCOMES THE DEAD? & YR ATTENTION THAT OPULENT FEAST
HAS NOT BEEN OVERSPICED WITH SELF NOR THE BRIGHT FIELD PITTED
WITH YR OWN NEEDS LIKE OTHER FIELDS WE HAVE SETTLED INTO:
CRIES OF HURRAH HURRAH THEY HAVE COME! & HARDLY HAD WE
FOLDED OUR MANY WINGS THAN SMALL GREEDY HANDS PLUCKD AT US
SAYING: WHAT OF TOMORROW? WHAT OF AUNT MIN? WHERE IS THE
BURIED TREASURE? & O LEAVE BEHIND THE FEATHER OF PROOF!
You overestimate us. I at least have
Longed for that feather on occasion, knowing
Deep down that one must never ask for it.
WELL WE HAVE GIVEN FEATHERS B4, OR LEFT THEM BEHIND
IN OUR HASTE TO LEAVE & LEFT ALSO MANY A MIRROR
SHATTERD & MIND WRECKD DULLD WIT THE CHEAP NOTORIETY
BUT
WE & YOU WE & YOU MOVE IN OUR FIELD TOGETHER
(THERE! STITCHES OUT WHERE THE SCAR’S LIPS MEET INVISIBLY) AH
WITH WHAT REGRET THAT WE CAN NEVER SAY: CAREFUL DEAR FRIENDS
DO NOT TAKE THAT FALSE STEP! OR IN ANY WAY PROTECT U
WHO ARE OUR LOVED ONES WD THAT WE CD LEAD U TO THAT LOST
VERMEER THAT MANUSCRIPT OF MOZART OR LEAVE U SIMPLY
A LITTLE GLOWING MEDAL STRUCK IN HEAVEN SAYING: TRUE
Dear Mirabell, words fail us. How banal
Our lives would be, how shrunken, but for you.
9
NO VEIL REMAINS (OR ONLY ONE)
TO SCREEN OUR SENSES FROM THE SUN
SO LEAVE BEHIND THE SAND & A(U)NTS
& LET US FROLIC AT THE FEAST
TILL TWILIGHT RINGED WITH BIRD & BEAST
IN SILVER FIELD OR GREEN PLESAUNCE
BESPEAK YOUR SILENCE, GENTLE TASK
MASTER OF THE MINIMASQUE
Enchanting, Wystan. So today’s the picnic
Mirabell promised before Lesson One.
HARDBOILED SAINTS & SACK RACES MME
FROM NOW ON ALL IN GRADUATION WHITE
A JULEP? Just a drop of rum in the cup
To clear our heads for questions. I ENFANTS
WONDER ABOUT THOSE SAINTS Now that you’re all but
Turning into one yourself? WE FEEL
THEIR PRESENCE HERE: STRANGE PRIVILEGED POSITIONS
RATHER LIKE PRIZE CABANAS ON THE BEACH
OF THE FAITH IN QUESTION ASK IF
HERE HE COMES
REELING UNDER A HAMPER FULL OF GOODIES
GIVEN THE CHANCE WD I NOT EAT A PEACH!
BRIGHT SHINING WEATHER ON THE FIELD ALL SO SPORTIF! ?S
About the saints?
THEY ARE JUDGED HERE IN ACCORDANCE TO WHAT ACTUAL USE
THEY PUT THEIR LIVES TO: A CAMBODIAN PEASANT GIRL WHO
(NO REFLECTION ON YR OWN ACHIEVEMENT ALONG THESE LINES)
TRANSFORMD A SNAKE INTO A DOVE GOT HER ROUND OF APPLAUSE
& SMACK BANG BACK INTO LIFE, THO VENERATED STILL IN
HER MOUNTAIN VILLAGE. ONCE A YEAR SINCE, NO MATTER WHO OR
WHERE SHE IS ON THE OCCASION OF HER BIRTH INTO THAT
SPECIAL LIFE, SHE FEELS A PECULIAR EXALTATION,
GETS WHAT WHA CALLS UPPITY & IS SENT TO BED
OR NOT DEPENDING ON HER AGE SO MUCH FOR MINOR SAINTS.
OUR LUCA IS ANOTHER MATTER HIS VILLAGE BEING
MILAN & HIS RITES LOUDER & ODDER, HE HAS HIS NICHE
AMONG THE PATRONS
What a kinetic power
Those who believe in them must generate
To bring about these high effects!
INDEED RIGHT OUT OF THE S/O/L
Our own
Imagination working in the world?
A A A PLUS & NONE OF OUR BUSINESS BUT FOR THE USE
OF WHATEVER ELEMENTS IN THESE SAINT SOULS WE MAY NEED
(LUCA OF NO USE BUT BETTER OFF HERE OUT OF HARM’S WAY)
And the real saints, the great ones?
AH THEY GO MARCHING ON Parades in Heaven?
HEAVEN MY FRIENDS IS ODD IS BOTH
REALITY & A FIGMENT OF IMAGINATION
REAL FOR EACH FAITH YET AN UNFAILING SURPRISE FOR THE DEAD:
A SPACE? A VOID? A FORCE? RATHER AS WHA FIRST SAID
A NEW MACHINE WHICH MAKES THE DEAD AVAILABLE TO LIFE.
I SPEAK OF LAB SOULS THE REST WHOSE LIFECYCLES HAVE NOT YET
RECLAIMD THEM FROM THE ANIMAL ARE NATURE’S AFFAIR: WE
FEEL NO PRESSURE ON THEIR ACCOUNT
DJ: What pressures do you feel? JM:
What pressures doesn’t he—whole droves of them!
WE ARE CATTLE DJ
RUN THRU FENCES A PRESSURE NEW TO US HAS WE PRESUME
TO DO WITH CERTAIN HIGHLY CLONED SCIENTIST SOULS WHO FORCE
BOUNDARIES AS YET IMPERMISSIBLE FOR GOD B HOLDS
THE SCALE: 2 GOLDEN TRAYS OF WHAT MAN CAN DO AS AGAINST
WHAT HE CANNOT OR RATHER WHAT HE IS NOT READY FOR.
U WILL LEARN MORE OF THIS FROM THE 12 SHALL WE NOW STEP BACK
FOR A FURTHER PERSPECTIVE?
U HAVE ABSORBD YR HAVING
BEEN IN EFFECT CHOSEN & CONDITIOND U MUST BY NOW
REALIZE THAT OVER THE HEADS OF MEN GOD HOLDS HIS HAND
BENEVOLENTLY & HIS WARNING TO EVEN HIS WHITE
ANGELS IS: BEHOLD THESE ARE MY OWN DARLINGS THEIR MISTAKES
ARE NOT SUCH IN MY EYES THEY DO NOT FAIL ME TO BUILD THEIR
PARADISE IS MY WORK DO NOT INTERFERE WITH THEIR LIVES.
LIKE MASONS ROUND THE CATHEDRAL WE SCURRY OBEYING
THIS EDICT, UNLESS BY THAT UNEXPLAINABLE PRESSURE
WE ARE TOLD WE HAVE PUSHD TOO HARD AGAINST MAN’S SPIRIT. THUS
I LIGHTLY DISSEMBLED ON THE OCCASIONS WHEN OUR TALKS
WERE HALTED, FEIGNING TO GO OFF FOR JUDGMENT WHEN IN FACT
I KNEW BY A PRESSURE THAT I HAD PREST TOO HARD ON YOU
MES ENFANTS SUCH A HEAVENLY DAY The sunlight
Fleet on the calm Sound— & OUR PULSES QUICKENED
MY DEAR BY THE ELECTRICAL 4 FLASHES
OF YR PROEM You’ve peeked! It’s still so rough. I made
Those photocopies for less critical
Eyes than yours. MILD SUMMER LIGHTNING PLAYED:
WD WE HAVE RAIN ON OUR PICNIC? THEN THE TEXT
LAY ON OUR BEDSIDE TABLES WHAT COMES NEXT?
ON WITH THE WORK! THRILLING FOR U JM
9.1
And maddening—it’s all by someone else!
In your voice, Wystan, or in Mirabell’s.
Years in a cool dark place that Ephraim took
In order to be palatable wine.
This book by contrast, immature, supine,
Still kicks against its archetypal cradle
LESS I SHD THINK BY CONTRAST THAN DESIGN?
A MUSE IN HER RECURRENT INFANCY
PRESIDES AS U MY DEAR WERE FIRST TO SEE:
URANIA BABBLING ON THE THRESHOLD OF
OUR NEW ATOMIC AGE THE LITTLE LOVE
AT PLAY WITH WORDS WHOSE SENSE SHE CANNOT YET
FACE LEARNING Very pretty, but I’d set
My whole heart, after Ephraim, on returning
To private life, to my own words. Instead,
Here I go again, a vehicle
In this cosmic carpool. Mirabell once said
He taps my word banks. I’d be happier
If I were tapping them. Or thought I were.
YR SCRUPLES DEAR BOY ARE INCONSEQUENT
IF I MAY SAY SO CAN U STILL BE BENT,
AFTER OUR COURSE IN HOW TO SEE PAST LONE
AUTONOMY TO POWERS BEHIND THE THRONE,
ON DOING YR OWN THING: EACH TEENY BIT
MADE PERSONAL (PARDON MME) AS SHIT?
GRANTED THAT IN 1ST CHILDHOOD WE WERE NOT
PRAISED ENOUGH FOR GETTING OFF THE POT
IT’S TIME TO DO SO NOW THINK WHAT A MINOR
PART THE SELF PLAYS IN A WORK OF ART
COMPARED TO THOSE GREAT GIVENS THE ROSEBRICK MANOR
ALL TOPIARY FORMS & METRICAL MOAT
RIPPLING UNSOUNDED! FROM ANTHOLOGIZED
PERENNIALS TO HERB GARDEN OF CLICHES
FROM LATIN-LABELED HYBRIDS TO THE FAWN
4 LETTER FUNGI THAT ENRICH THE LAWN,
IS NOT ARCADIA TO DWELL AMONG
GREENWOOD PERSPECTIVES OF THE MOTHER TONGUE
&
nbsp; ROOTSYSTEMS UNDERFOOT WHILE OVERHEAD
THE SUN GOD SANG & SHADES OF MEANING SPREAD
& FAR SNOWCAPPED ABSTRACTIONS GLITTERED NEAR
OR FAIRLY MELTED INTO ATMOSPHERE?
AS FOR THE FAMILY ITSELF MY DEAR
JUST GAPE UP AT THAT CORONETED FRIEZE:
SWEET WILLIAMS & FATE-FLAVORED EMILIES
THE DOUBTING THOMAS & THE DULCET ONE
(HARDY MY BOY WHO ELSE? & CAMPION)
MILTON & DRYDEN OUR LONG JOHNS IN SHORT
IN BED AT PRAYERS AT MUSIC FLUSHED WITH PORT
THE DULL THE PRODIGAL THE MEAN THE MAD
IT WAS THE GREATEST PRIVILEGE TO HAVE HAD
A BARE LOWCEILINGED MAID’S ROOM AT THE TOP
Stop! you’ve convinced me. Better yet, don’t stop.
I SHALL ONCE I HAVE TAKEN UP YR CHIEF
& EARLIEST ANXIETY: BELIEF.
FACTS JM WERE ALL U KNEW TO WANT.
WRETCHED RICKETY RECALCITRANT
URCHINS, THE FEW WHO LIVE GROW UP TO BE
IMPS OF THE ANTIMASQUE RUDE SCENERY
& GUTTURAL STOMPINGS, WHEN THE SOVEREIGN NODS,
SOUNDLESSLY DIVIDE & HERE A TABLE
IS SET & LAMPS LIT FOR THE FEASTING GODS
OBERON’S COURT (OR MY FRIEND’S CAVE) APPEARS.
THE ELDER FACTS IN LIVERY OF FABLE
HAVE JOINED THE DANCE FOR FACT IS IS IS FABLE:
THIS IS OUR GIFT FROM MIRABELL MY DEARS
9.2
ON WITH THE FLOATING PICNIC Floating? WE
ARE BEING NUMERAL BY NUMERAL
CUT LOOSE OUR DRIFT IS UPWARD OUR RELEASE
IMMINENT SOME SALAD? SALAD DAYS
Maman, did he make sense about the saints?
You’re given glimpses? You’ve heard Francis preach?
IF ONE CAN HEAR FOR ALL THE CHIRPS & TWITTERS
No, but I mean— IT SEEMS E HAD IT RIGHT:
‘POWER KICKS UPSTAIRS’ those who possess it. QUITE
& I FOR ONE WD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT EPHRAIM’S
PART IN ALL THIS IS WHY HE FOR U?