RATTLE-SNAKE MOUNTAIN DIALOGUE
Rattle-Snake MountainEvery night the sky grips my shoulder, in pain.The cows upon my slopeAttack their blades of grass with less decision.The boulders reaching in to form my ribs,Are touched by evening dizziness, to dust,And lose their fierce pretence of hardness.Three crows in a rowSearch for clearer tongues, with steady discords.ManThe nervous dissolutionWhich men call beauty standsSternly watching itself.Rattle-Snake MountainEvening, staggering under dead men’s tongues,Makes light of my loneliness.He comes like a madman dissolvedInto unbearable quietness.But, drinking my vigorous muteness,He melts into that stream of seeking motionWhich men call morning.ManYou teach him to make his recompenseA solitary unfoldingWalking perilouslyBetween the scowls of life and death.Rattle-Snake MountainWhen he goes he is something more than himself.He holds a lean alertnessThat, green as any leaf,Takes the flutterings of life, unperturbed.ManBeauty is a proud stareChallenging all things to removeTheir inattentive clamours:And some things bow abruptly,Timidly stroking their untouched skins.Rattle-Snake MountainAnd thus evening bows into morning.
Rattle-Snake MountainEvery night the sky grips my shoulder, in pain.The cows upon my slopeAttack their blades of grass with less decision.The boulders reaching in to form my ribs,Are touched by evening dizziness, to dust,And lose their fierce pretence of hardness.Three crows in a rowSearch for clearer tongues, with steady discords.ManThe nervous dissolutionWhich men call beauty standsSternly watching itself.Rattle-Snake MountainEvening, staggering under dead men’s tongues,Makes light of my loneliness.He comes like a madman dissolvedInto unbearable quietness.But, drinking my vigorous muteness,He melts into that stream of seeking motionWhich men call morning.ManYou teach him to make his recompenseA solitary unfoldingWalking perilouslyBetween the scowls of life and death.Rattle-Snake MountainWhen he goes he is something more than himself.He holds a lean alertnessThat, green as any leaf,Takes the flutterings of life, unperturbed.ManBeauty is a proud stareChallenging all things to removeTheir inattentive clamours:And some things bow abruptly,Timidly stroking their untouched skins.Rattle-Snake MountainAnd thus evening bows into morning.
Rattle-Snake MountainEvery night the sky grips my shoulder, in pain.The cows upon my slopeAttack their blades of grass with less decision.The boulders reaching in to form my ribs,Are touched by evening dizziness, to dust,And lose their fierce pretence of hardness.Three crows in a rowSearch for clearer tongues, with steady discords.
Rattle-Snake Mountain
Every night the sky grips my shoulder, in pain.
The cows upon my slope
Attack their blades of grass with less decision.
The boulders reaching in to form my ribs,
Are touched by evening dizziness, to dust,
And lose their fierce pretence of hardness.
Three crows in a row
Search for clearer tongues, with steady discords.
ManThe nervous dissolutionWhich men call beauty standsSternly watching itself.
Man
The nervous dissolution
Which men call beauty stands
Sternly watching itself.
Rattle-Snake MountainEvening, staggering under dead men’s tongues,Makes light of my loneliness.He comes like a madman dissolvedInto unbearable quietness.But, drinking my vigorous muteness,He melts into that stream of seeking motionWhich men call morning.
Rattle-Snake Mountain
Evening, staggering under dead men’s tongues,
Makes light of my loneliness.
He comes like a madman dissolved
Into unbearable quietness.
But, drinking my vigorous muteness,
He melts into that stream of seeking motion
Which men call morning.
ManYou teach him to make his recompenseA solitary unfoldingWalking perilouslyBetween the scowls of life and death.
Man
You teach him to make his recompense
A solitary unfolding
Walking perilously
Between the scowls of life and death.
Rattle-Snake MountainWhen he goes he is something more than himself.He holds a lean alertnessThat, green as any leaf,Takes the flutterings of life, unperturbed.
Rattle-Snake Mountain
When he goes he is something more than himself.
He holds a lean alertness
That, green as any leaf,
Takes the flutterings of life, unperturbed.
ManBeauty is a proud stareChallenging all things to removeTheir inattentive clamours:And some things bow abruptly,Timidly stroking their untouched skins.
Man
Beauty is a proud stare
Challenging all things to remove
Their inattentive clamours:
And some things bow abruptly,
Timidly stroking their untouched skins.
Rattle-Snake MountainAnd thus evening bows into morning.
Rattle-Snake Mountain
And thus evening bows into morning.