page 22

XIV

(a)
Girls in bright frocks
Will never be done
With laughing; the rocks
Hum like a gramophone

To the electric pulse
Of the sea; the tired
Crafts slowly waltz
On the distending tide.

A dog barks at the waves;
Brilliant naked thighs
Flash as a yielding grave
Closes on her; surprise

Upon her; field of veil-white
Flowers drifting seaward,
Drifting seaward. Bird alights
On sand, cruel eyes seaward.

(b)
Face downward on the flood,
My true love lies;
Like a swan with not a word to say,
My true love lies.

Fish leap at her crumbling mouth
Where my kisses lay;
The waves roll her body over and over
Forever and a day.

Eyes look your last, hand touch,
Mouth you may seek;
Heart, break into a thousand pieces:
She sleeps, she sleeps.

(c)
O great black dog on the sand
Trembling exquisite with fear;
Bark, bark at the down-crumbling waves:
She may hear, she may hear.

But your tail is between your legs,
Your whining fills me with fear;
And my words lie bruised on the waves,
And the seawind blinds me with tears.