Still my dinin g- room with its gold oak-leaf
Pape r , has three long windows lookin g wes t
U pon a li gul a te fores t, a nd famille rose,
Fam ill e ve rte, china fo r a n up-with-the- kettl e,
Round -with-the-ca r , ma n , if you could not bea r
T o have it go ing on one moment longer ,
Doo rs with their fertile roa r , their dese rt
G la nces, clos ing from the inside, not the out ,
O r to h ave it eve r stopped .
Charles Tomlinson
ANNIVERSARY
Jar Beatrice
Ove r our roo f the pla nes climb wes l.
I caught today fa r out in space
A jet gone inching up the stra tosphe re
Ve rticall y from a sta nd o f trees,
O ve r , then down to di sappear
N ose- divin g the ho ri zon . On hi gh
An a rc o f vapou r sco red the sha pe
One could ta ke the pla net's improbable measure by;
Then , as it began
to
fray a nd fade
Bits of the bridge came fl oating down the sky
Combed by the wind. Yet out of view
Tha t a rc we nt rounding on a nd on
And , ha lf a world away, took also you
U nder its wing, remindin g thi s spring day
Wha t d ay it was by writing it ove rhead
In
a sc ript tha t onl y April a nd you can read .
