PARTISAN REVIEW
Tell that though much wool is requisite against the winter,
One cedar shall be spared to stand against the winters of the heart;
Stand for this kitten the great beast lets meander over his mane,
Struggle up his tail, to the tree's thick roof no snow sifts through.
William Carlos Williams
THE LION
Traffic, the lion, the sophisticate,
facing the primitive, alabaster,
the new fallen snow
stains its chastity the new shade.
Use defames! the attack disturbs our sleep.
This is the color of the road, the color
of the lion, sand color
- to follow the lion, of use or usage,
even to church! the bells achime
above the fallen snow!
-all follow the same road, apace.
2
Winter, the churned snow, the lion
flings the woman, taking her
by the throat upon his gullied
shoulders-shaking the weight fast
and unmolested plunges with her
among the trees-where the whiteness
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