Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003

Fireside

Part I The Couples One night they all found themselves alone, their first force gone. No law. Vacations were no vacation, nothing came in the mail, and so on. Everyone wanted to be good, no one alive remembered them. Out of decency no one spoke. By the time day broke even the babies were bored with them, with hunger, and falling; even you, Prince, gray around the mouth and tired of calling, tired of briars, tired of them, had ridden away. Fireside The fox went under the garden thinking. The watersnake never moved, or the sun. —Night, and everyone’s straight out longing; the cat’s in the woods, the children lie loose in stories pilgrims 75 tall as this world could be if we could run for it Lord Fox. Foxfire will, we thought, out, you and I, blue glass at the fireside side by side, word for word, wood for wood, desire for desire, nicer than God. Solomon Still, gold, open-handed, sad King Solomon listened: they started, weightless, close to his ear, sweet as bees. One with light breasts and knees danced with herself before Solomon, one stood by with barbarian eyes mad for Solomon, one, a child, even touched his face and he smiled in his clothes, shut his eyes. Solomon sat by a white pond his skin thin gold and his head down. One stood by with barbarian eyes mad for Solomon. She came to his hands, 76 door in the mountain ...