I have heard the water beasts roaring in the night, Leaping and howling, Stung to madness by the tempest’s might. I have seen them splintering their heads in a furious race, Plunging through the bellowing gloom With a boom ... boom ... boom— And from each torn face I have watched their white blood Sweeping in a foam across the night. I have heard the water beasts snarling at the wild beating blows Of the strong handed winds that tore them into rows And churned their entrails into hissing snows. The water is a restless smile soft as a woman’s hair. At noon it closes its vast blue eye and falls asleep. At night as the swooning day gives birth, The water is an opal glittering On the gnarled black fist of the earth. I have heard the water purring in the sun with its blue back arched, And have seen the drowsy water beasts rising from their beds. I have heard them chant as they formed and marched With their green peaked hoods tipping rakish on their heads. The water is frozen. Under its stiffened bosom The beasts run blindly to and fro And rising from beneath Crunch one another with their frozen teeth. It burns. My soul is like water. Sorrow The night is a black poppy. The moon weeps Spilling a torrent of silver tears Across the black petals. The wind laughs. The black face of the water Glistens with rows of flashing teeth Laughing back. Always laughter. Ho, the stars are little devils And I am their master. Humoresque Faces. Faces. Swimming like white fever specks away. Faces. Coming close. See the meaningless odd bumps on them called features: A maniac crooning over lumps of putty fashioned them. Look. Important faces! And there—nice empty ones (Yellow bits of paper blanks Blown along the street.) And look. Good God! A happy one! Faces. Crazy bumped and colored discs Bobbing, bobbing, Swimming, fading Like white fever specks I am one of them. Rain The rain is like laughter. The black devils of my brain Have leaped outside the window And are laughing at me. An Invitation to Cheat Posterity (_To W._) Come, thief, an epic seethes within my brain I will condense it to a sigh And breathe it in your ear. Come to my arms, the mad words start There is a sonnet in my finger tips There is a lyric bursting from my heart I will condense them all into A single kiss upon your lips. My Island You shall stand on a rock in the darkness Naked and shining with beauty. And I shall sit by the water and gaze on you And as you come gliding through the mists, Struggling out of the night’s black mouth, I shall rush to you and embrace the moon.