The Night Dances
A smile fell in the grass. Irretrievable!
And how will your night dances Lose themselves. In mathematics?
Such pure leaps and spirals - Surely they travel
The world forever, I shall not entirely Sit emptied of beauties, the gift
Of your small breath, the drenched grass Smell of your sleeps, lilies, lilies.
Their flesh bears no relation. Cold folds of ego, the calla,
And the tiger, embellishing itself - Spots, and a spread of hot petals.
The comets Have such a space to cross,
Such coldness, forgetfulness. So your gestures flake off -
Warm and human, then their pink light Bleeding and peeling
Through the black amnesias of heaven. Why am I given
These lamps, these planets Falling like blessings, like flakes
Six sided, white On my eyes, my lips, my hair
Touching and melting. Nowhere.
~ sylvia plath ~ |