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Written on AspenShepherds carved in aspen barkA record of thought In the lonely summer camps Scratched in plump women, crosses, directional Messages of where they were going There in the Sangre de Cristo mountains In the 1800's, white bark Of aspens, an endless ream of paper Pale as the sky Before morning My sister and I Sat on the Athenian acropolis at night The ruined Parthenon before us Rows of bleached columns Caryatids, serene women, supporting A roof on their heads Like so many carrying pails of water We didn't know What to do or say Overwhelmed in the moonlight Sang " America the Beautiful" Recited the only bit of Virgil in the original We knew by heart Unsatisfied, needing to pray In some language we didn't know. Black on white, light Falling through bars of classical Columns leading away like a grove of trees The shuddering of aspen leaves Green turning gold, littering the ground Shepherds seeking the valley out of the oncoming cold Unlined white paper These words. |
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Issue #12, November, 1999 :
Santa Fe Poetry Broadside.