And it's April Anno Domini 1970
And what I forget and what I remember
Depends upon new syntax or
or silence
Harvey Shapiro
THE CARD
Closed in by the rain, the February chill,
he looks at her card sent from an island
in the sun. She writes "The vasts and deeps
of the mistakenness of this undertaking
remain to be measured." What he drinks
can't begin to
fill
his emptiness
or banish the chill . Only the pen seems warm.
Is she warning him of her vision of their
condition? Possibly. She writes
"I'm having funny dreams, you and I
in Paris . Also you and my mother
married . And others ." When she comes back
he will begin to batter at her indifference
again. She does not sign love, just
"Pray for me" and the initial of her name .
THE WISH
This night in Brooklyn is as ancient
as nights get, though the moon
hangs like a lamp, and the traffic