for kathy
hush
you need too many
Words--
their lacquer-thin fragility
comforts only the elements of the night,
confronts the birds of the air
in downward swerve,
defines defines defines
our progress
within the spheres,
among the doves and griffins,
beside the anxious pale-faced
handmaidens
who hush in sweet smiles
and help us understand
the comfort of old thoughts
that
meander purple in the night
alighting finally
in the shadowed fragrance of your hair.
