Laugh of the Well To Do
America, last night I dreamt they cut off your ears and feetAmerica, you whispered to me mocking, "now we are both incomplete!"
America, I held your severed four in my arms like sons and daughters.
America, I crawled down low to place them in exalted waters
An altered look about the hills
A Tierean light the village fills
A wider sunrise in the morn
A deeper twilight on the lawn
A print of a vermilion foot
A purple finger on the slope
A flippant fly upon the pane
America, last night I dreamt they cut off your ears and feet
America, you whispered to me mocking, "now we are both incomplete!"
America, I dressed each one back where they belonged
You cried and sang, and the sun began to shine.
A spider at his trade again
An added strut in Chanticleer
A flower expected everywhere
An axe shrill singing in the woods
Fern odors on untravelled roads
All this and more I cannot tell
A furtive look you know as well
And Nicodemus' Mystery
Receives its annual reply!
America, we laughed the laugh of the well to do!
Marginalia
