In the cold, cold parlormy mother laid out Arthurbeneath the chromographs:
Edward,
Prince of Wales,with Princess Alexandra,and King George with Queen Mary
Below them on the tablestood a stuffed loonshot and stuffed by
The state with the prettiest name,the state that floats in brackish water,held together by mangrave rootsthat bear while living oysters in clusters, and when dead strew white swamps with skeletons, dotted as if bombarded, with green hummockslike a...
Across the floor flits the mechanical toy,fit for a king of several centuries back
A little circus horse with real white hair
His eyes are glossy black
He bears a little dancer on his back
Oh, but it is dirty
—this little filling station,oil-soaked, oil-permeatedto a disturbing, over-allblack translucency
Be careful with that match
Father wears a dirty,oil-soaked monkey suitthat cuts him under the arms,and several qui...
The rain has stopped
The waterfall will roar like that all night
I have come out to take a walk and feed
My body—foot,that is—is wet and cold and covered with sharp gravel
Alone on the railroad track I walked with pounding heart
The ties were too close together or maybe too far apart
The scenery was impoverished: scrub-pine and oak; beyondits mingled gray-green foliage I saw the little pondwhere the dirty ...
Still dark
The unknown bird sits on his usual branch
The little dog next door barks in his sleepinquiringly, just once
Perhaps in his sleep, too, the bird inquiresonce or twice, quavering
Out on the high "bird islands," Ciboux and Hertford, the razorbill auks and the silly-looking puffins all stand with their backs to the mainland in solemn, uneven lines along the cliff's brown grass-frayed edge, while the few sheep pastu...
The tumult in the heart keeps asking questions
And then it stops and undertakes to answer in the same tone of voice
No one could tell the difference
Uninnocent, these conversations start, and then engage the senses, only half-meanin...
The brown enormous odor he lived bywas too close, with its breathing and thick hair,for him to judge
The floor was rotten; the stywas plastered halfway up with glass-smooth dung
Light-lashed, self-righteous, above moving snouts,the pigs'...
Love's the boy stood on the burning decktrying to recite `The boy stood onthe burning deck
' Love's the son stood stammering elocution while the poor ship in flames went down
Love's the obstinate boy, the ship,even the swimming sailors, ...
Unfunny uncles who insistin trying on a lady's hat,—oh, even if the joke falls flat,we share your slight transvestite twistin spite of our embarrassment
Costume and custom are complex
The headgear of the other sexinspires us to experimen...