Dictionary Poems

Come not, when I am dead, To drop thy foolish tears upon my grave, To trample round my fallen head, And vex the unhappy dust thou wouldst not save. There let the wind sweep and the plover cry; But thou, go by. Child, if it were thine error or thy crime I care no longer, … Continued

Here in my heart I am Helen; I’m Aspasia and Hero, at least.I’m Judith, and Jael, and Madame de Stael; I’m Salome, moon of the East. Here in my soul I am Sappho; Lady Hamilton am I, as well.In me Recamier vies with Kitty O’Shea, With Dido, and Eve, and poor Nell. I’m of the … Continued

Fat lady, in your four-wheeled chair, Dolled up to beat the band,At me you arrogantly stare With gold lorgnette in hand.Oh how you differ from the dame So shabby, gaunt and grey,With legs rheumatically lame, Who steers you on your way. Nay, jewelled lady, look not back Lest you should be disturbedTo see the skinny … Continued

He. Where thou dwellest, in what grove,Tell me Fair One, tell me Love;Where thou thy charming nest dost build,O thou pride of every field! She. Yonder stands a lonely tree,There I live and mourn for thee;Morning drinks my silent tear,And evening winds my sorrow bear. He. O thou summer’s harmony,I have liv’d and mourn’d for … Continued

Water in the millrace, through a sluice of stone, plunges headlong into that black pondwhere, absurd and out-of-season, a single swan floats chaste as snow, taunting the clouded mindwhich hungers to haul the white reflection down. The austere sun descends above the fen, an orange cyclops-eye, scorning to looklonger on this landscape of chagrin; feathered … Continued

COLORED CHILD AT CARNIVAL Where is the Jim Crow section On this merry-go-round, Mister, cause I want to ride?Down South where I come from White and colored Can’t sit side by side. Down South on the train There’s a Jim Crow car. On the bus we’re put in the back–But there ain’t no back To … Continued

There were twin artists A. and B.Who painted pictures two,And hung them in my galleyFor everyone to view;The one exhibited by A.The name A Sphere did bear,While strangely brother B’s displayWas catalogued: A Square. Now although A. (and this is queer)Could squeeze a pretty tube,The picture that he called a SphereWas blocky as a cube;While … Continued

The wind begun to rock the grassWith threatening tunes and low, —He flung a menace at the earth,A menace at the sky. The leaves unhooked themselves from treesAnd started all abroad;The dust did scoop itself like handsAnd throw away the road. The wagons quickened on the streets,The thunder hurried slow;The lightning showed a yellow beak,And … Continued

In Benidorm there are melons, Whole donkey-carts full Of innumerable melons, Ovals and balls, Bright green and thumpable Laced over with stripes Of turtle-dark green. Chooose an egg-shape, a world-shape, Bowl one homeward to taste In the whitehot noon : Cream-smooth honeydews, Pink-pulped whoppers, Bump-rinded cantaloupes With orange cores. Each wedge wears a studding Of … Continued

How dare the robins sing, When men and women hearWho since they went to their account Have settled with the year! —Paid all that life had earned In one consummate bill,And now, what life or death can do Is immaterial.Insulting is the sun To him whose mortal light,Beguiled of immortality, Bequeaths him to the night.In … Continued