The Lord

Best beast I ever saw Or a cunning smile or

Feathered fins or rainbow wings, Wildflower! Or

so I thought until the words seemed to

Summon something in me, I would just, I think,

Look about, and pick at my binoculars, and stare

Through my very gaze, and if the roses bloomed I’d

Dormantly suggest to my lover, the gardener, that

She gardened. Or whatever thing the Lord had in mind,

And I, of course, thought I had seen it but — Well,

I can tell you now that the Call of Nature calls

to me, is pleasanter than may be comprehended

Within my narrow mountain range or my simple heart

.

How then am I to explain the violent, sweet-souled

Pleasure that came over me on my first encounter with

that most wonderful flower, that withering rose, that

Burst of supernatally sensuous appetite — when, as

he was naught to say, I could in the instant, so

to speak, pull off the veil of my senses?

This, of course,

was the most incredible possible coincidence. Indeed,

even now, I doubt whether I am cognizant of what

has happened. Can you imagine?

If I knew then what I know now, I would have guessed that

we had actually grown indifferent to each other, that our

dignity had become ineradicable and real. Can you imagine?

And I hope that you, dear reader, can as well, if you are.