Men believe that I can speak Without the aid of thought. True, I have murdered many kings, Leaned upon many cheeks, And sought the release of music, But when I ride upon words I am forced to steal them from the mind. Forgive me, now, if a trace of thought Invades my liquid purity! _Truth_ You need not defend your argument With meek verbosity, As though you dreaded its possible subtleties. We are not men, but words! Men have made me a lofty acrobat Entertaining each of their desires With some old twist on the bars. But let us leave the frantic tasks Forced upon us by men. This is our grove of rest. _Intellect_ Emotion, we have often crept From our separate palaces, Asking each other for secret favors. _Emotion_ We laughed because the men who made us Could not see our desperate trading. We will end our laugh Upon the dust of the last man on earth And taste a peaceful strangeness. _Art_ And I, the tortured child of your love, Will slip from the fringe of your grayness Into the void from which I came. _Poetry_ And I, the moment when your arms Touched each other in the night, Will no longer strive To tell the happening to men. _Fantasy_ And I, the glistening whim Of your secret love, Will change to a question lurking within your dust. _Suggestion_ And I, the beckoning second When you curved a world in the twist of your fingers-- I shall vanish into your completeness. _Intellect_ The hope of this magic ending Is our only consolation. Emotion, a new philosopher Is forging blades for your torture, And a braggart poet Invites me to his disdain. Let us return to our burdens. THE SCRUB-WOMAN (_A Sentimental Poem_) Time has placed his careful insult Upon your body. In other ages Time gave rags To hags without riches, but now he brings Cotton, calico, and muslin-- Tokens of his admiration For broken backs. Neat nonsense, stamped with checks and stripes, Fondles the deeply marked sneer That Time has dropped upon you. While Time, in one of his well-debated moods That men call an age, is attending to his manners, I shall scan the invisible banners Of meaning that unfurl when you move. II