Al Que Quiere!. William Carlos Williams

on either hand

       and no one knows

       whether we think good

       or evil.

      Meanwhile,

       the old man who goes about

      ​

      gathering dog-lime

       walks in the gutter

       without looking up

       and his tread

       is more majestic than

       that of the Episcopal minister

       approaching the pulpit

       of a Sunday.

      These things

       astonish me beyond words.

      ​LOVE SONG

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      Daisies are broken

       petals are news of the day

       stems lift to the grass tops

       they catch on shoes

       part in the middle

       leave root and leaves secure.

       Black branches

       carry square leaves

       to the wood's top.

       They hold firm

       break with a roar

       show the white!

       Your moods are slow

       the shedding of leaves

      ​

      and sure

       the return in May!

       We walked

       in your father's grove

       and saw the great oaks

       lying with roots

       ripped from the ground.

      ​M. B.

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      Winter has spent this snow

       out of envy, but spring is here!

       He sits at the breakfast table

       in his yellow hair

       and disdains even the sun

       walking outside

       in spangled slippers:

       He looks out: there is

       a glare of lights

       before a theater—

       a sparkling lady

       passes quickly to

       the seclusion of

       her carriage.

      Presently

       under the dirty, wavy heaven

       of a borrowed room he will make

      ​

      re-inhaled tobacco smoke

       his clouds and try them

       against the sky's limits!