Always above, on a stair, in a tower,
the diamond-eyed magician treds the air,
and dabbles in the witchcraft of perfection,

As by wine unimpaired, the intoxication
ran high. Demeanor and curiosity—
not prying—was the clearest.

Once I thought there was no blue in nature
except the sky—I thought Nature couldn’t make
a blue fiower, or tree, or creature.

I was embarrassed in a garter snake’s presence.
—I’d screamed when it slithered under my hand
as I leaned to pick the first ripe blueberry.

 1. (Starbuck)

After the abscission layers form
Waterflow to the pods' end.

The frame of the house he lived in
supplied the wood for the gallows.
The floors where he walked were folded

Through your love words became clear,
were born again with a strange vigour,
like flat lines transformed through prayer,

Hermione, Helen, Hilda, I have been,
my pencil picking from inside a weighted
statue, or tree, my skin stiffened, mated

Before you turn your anger against a friend,
           Be circumspect, recite the alphabet—
                 Backwards, if you must.

And what if now I told you this, let’s say,
By telephone. Would you imagine me
Talking to myself in an empty room,