Louis Gilmore I My thoughts are fish That dwell in a twilight Of green waters: They are silver fish That dart here and there Streaking the still water Of a pond. My thoughts are birds That have hung their nests Near the sun: They are yellow birds That drift on stretched wings Over a sea untroubled By a sail. My thoughts are beasts That crouch and wait In a black forest. My thoughts are apes That clamber through the tree-tops Towards the moon. II In winter People intensify Their individuality In houses. In spring By the side of lakes Beneath trees People walk Vaguely sentimental. In summer Lying upon the warm earth They hear the grass grow; Or they become impersonal In a contemplation Of stars. In autumn People dispel The characteristic Melancholy of the season With a cup of tea. III Rare delight, That of hanging By one’s tail Over a pond. Rare delight, That of seeing A green monkey In the sky. Rare delight, That of reaching up With one’s paw To touch it. Rare delight, That of finding The strange one In the water. Rare delight, That of clasping The belovèd In death. Poet’s Heart Maxwell Bodenheim The Mad Shepherd The Narcissus Peddler The Slender Nun The Wine Jar Maiden The Poet A great window of palest purple light. The lower corner of the window is visible. A dark purple wall frames the window, and narrow rectangles of the wall, below and to the left of the window-corner, are visible. Before the window-corner is the portion of a pale pink floor. One tall thin white candle stands against the dark purple rectangle of wall to the left of the window-corner. It bears a narrow flame which remains stationary. Soft and clear light pours in from the window-corner and dim shapes stand behind it. The Mad Shepherd appears from the left. He holds a reed to his lips but does not blow into it. A long brown cloak drapes him: black sandals are on his feet. His black hair caresses his shoulders; his face is young. He pauses, three-fourths of his body framed by the palest purple window-corner. The Mad Shepherd (addressing the palest purple window-corner):