The Moon Upon the Waters

 

the green of days : the chimneys
alone : the green of days and the women
the whistle : the green of days and the women
the whistle of me entering the poem through the chimneys
plural : I flow from the (each) fireplaces
the green of days : I barely reach the sill
the women’s flecked nails : the definite article
i remove i and a colon from two lines above
the green of days barely reach the sill
i remove es from ices keep another i put the c here
the green of days barely reaches the sill
the beachball : dreaming ‘the’ dream
the dreamball we dance on the beach

gentlemen i am not doing my best
cold fingers pass over my eye (salt)
i flow under the beachball as green waves
which if it were vaves would contain
the picture (v) and the name (aves)
of knots : the beachball : the green sea
through the fireplaces spurting through the chimneys
the waves : the whales : the beachball on a seal
still : the green of days : the exit

from Collected Poems (Carcanet, 2003), copyright Tom Raworth 2003, used by permission of the author and the publisher

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