after the party

In the late summer, our magnolia tree's seed pods turn a rich,
vibrant red in celebration of summer's end. As I swept up the dried
pods and leaves from the patio floor this morning, I couldn't help but
notice how beautiful they were. Don't you think the small dark green
leaf in the center looks like an ancient Trojan mask? Nature's confetti,
after the masquerade party of summer.

Here something stubborn comes,

Dislodging the earth crumbs

And making crusty rubble,

And looks like a green staple.

It could be seedling maple,

Or artichoke, or bean.

That remains to be seen.

from Seed Leaves by Richard Wilbur

mossy, late summer birdbath on the patio

Seeing the snowman standing all alone

In dusk and cold is more than he can bear.

The small boy weeps to hear the wind prepare

A night of gnashings and enormous moan.

His tearful sigh can hardly reach to where

the pale-faced figure with bitumen eyes

Returns him such a god-forsaken stare

As outcast Adam gave to Paradise.

The man of snow is, nonetheless, content,

Having no wish to go inside and die.

Still, he is moved to see the youngster cry.

Though frozen water is his element,

He melts enough to drop from one soft eye

A trickle of the purest rain, a tear

For the child at the bright pane surrounded by

Such warmth, such light, such love, and so much fear.

Boy at the Window by Richard Wilbur

photo by willow, 1989

A word sticks in the wind's throat;
A wind-launch drifts in the swells of rye;
Sometimes, in broad silence,
The hanging apples distil their darkness.

You, in a green dress, calling, and with brown hair,
Who come by the field-path now, whose name I say
Softly, forgive me love if also I call you
Wind's word, apple-heart, haven of grasses.


Apology
Richard Wilbur, New and Collected Poems

Study for the Bouquet, John William Waterhouse, 1908

I picked up a wonderful copy of Richard Wilbur's New and Collected
Poems from that overstock and second hand bookstore I love to visit.
You know, the one in the lovely old church building? I didn't realize
Wilbur was the winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He has
also served as the Poet Laureate of the United States and was the
primary lyricist for Bernstein's opera Candide. His poetry has an
elegant, graceful quality. This particular poem brought to mind this
soft Waterhouse painting and also Keira Knightley's stunning green
dress from the film Atonement.