THREE PORTRAITS

IWithdraw your hair from the simulatedInterest of the moon;Take every tenuous shadowFrom the aimless tongues of these treesAnd darken your speech until it attainsA fickle and fantasticAcquaintance with the eccentric night;Disarrange your dress and make itA subtle invitation to nakedness.Remove your shoes and stockingsSo that your feet may enjoyAn embarrassed soliloquy with the grass;Place the palm of your handLightly against your nose,Following the slope of some grotesque feeling.Devise these careful affrontsTo the heavier intentionsOf thought and emotion, and gratefullyAccept your title of minor poet.Only trees with long roots caught by hillsWill recognize your importance.IIThey worship musical sound,Protecting the breast of emotion.Their feelings pose as fortune-tellersAnd angle for coins from credulous thoughts.Shall we abandon this luxuryOf mild mist and wild raptures?Your face refrains from speaking yesBut your poised eyes roundlyReward the luminous question.Greece and Asia have exchangedProblems upon your face,And the fine poise of your headTries to catch their conversation.Few people care to useThought as a musical instrument,Bringing ingenious restraints to grief and joy,But we, with clasped arms, will descendDaringly upon this situation.The full-blown confusion of lifeWill detest our intrusion.IIIIf you subtract a nose you add religion,Supine, and in a glitter of explanationExpanding the unreasonable secondOf chattering, pugnacious flesh.The inquisitive elevation of nosesDoes not fit into the smoothCurvatures of faith.If you remove the lips you addPhilosophy, for lips express the warmQuarrel of emotions and becomeCrimson antagonists to contemplation.If you subtract the eyes you addThe fertile smugness of earth,For eyes are rapid skepticsTossing light beyond the circles of earth.Flesh will remain and vacillateBetween the cocaine of beliefAnd times of wakefulnessDesigned to replenish the drug.Then reconstruct the faceWith shifting experimentsOf spirit, fantasy, and intellect,Intent upon violatingThe tyrannies of formal reiteration.Men will revile you and bestowThe necessary background.

Withdraw your hair from the simulatedInterest of the moon;Take every tenuous shadowFrom the aimless tongues of these treesAnd darken your speech until it attainsA fickle and fantasticAcquaintance with the eccentric night;Disarrange your dress and make itA subtle invitation to nakedness.Remove your shoes and stockingsSo that your feet may enjoyAn embarrassed soliloquy with the grass;Place the palm of your handLightly against your nose,Following the slope of some grotesque feeling.Devise these careful affrontsTo the heavier intentionsOf thought and emotion, and gratefullyAccept your title of minor poet.

Withdraw your hair from the simulated

Interest of the moon;

Take every tenuous shadow

From the aimless tongues of these trees

And darken your speech until it attains

A fickle and fantastic

Acquaintance with the eccentric night;

Disarrange your dress and make it

A subtle invitation to nakedness.

Remove your shoes and stockings

So that your feet may enjoy

An embarrassed soliloquy with the grass;

Place the palm of your hand

Lightly against your nose,

Following the slope of some grotesque feeling.

Devise these careful affronts

To the heavier intentions

Of thought and emotion, and gratefully

Accept your title of minor poet.

Only trees with long roots caught by hillsWill recognize your importance.

Only trees with long roots caught by hills

Will recognize your importance.

They worship musical sound,Protecting the breast of emotion.Their feelings pose as fortune-tellersAnd angle for coins from credulous thoughts.Shall we abandon this luxuryOf mild mist and wild raptures?Your face refrains from speaking yesBut your poised eyes roundlyReward the luminous question.Greece and Asia have exchangedProblems upon your face,And the fine poise of your headTries to catch their conversation.Few people care to useThought as a musical instrument,Bringing ingenious restraints to grief and joy,But we, with clasped arms, will descendDaringly upon this situation.The full-blown confusion of lifeWill detest our intrusion.

They worship musical sound,

Protecting the breast of emotion.

Their feelings pose as fortune-tellers

And angle for coins from credulous thoughts.

Shall we abandon this luxury

Of mild mist and wild raptures?

Your face refrains from speaking yes

But your poised eyes roundly

Reward the luminous question.

Greece and Asia have exchanged

Problems upon your face,

And the fine poise of your head

Tries to catch their conversation.

Few people care to use

Thought as a musical instrument,

Bringing ingenious restraints to grief and joy,

But we, with clasped arms, will descend

Daringly upon this situation.

The full-blown confusion of life

Will detest our intrusion.

III

If you subtract a nose you add religion,Supine, and in a glitter of explanationExpanding the unreasonable secondOf chattering, pugnacious flesh.The inquisitive elevation of nosesDoes not fit into the smoothCurvatures of faith.If you remove the lips you addPhilosophy, for lips express the warmQuarrel of emotions and becomeCrimson antagonists to contemplation.If you subtract the eyes you addThe fertile smugness of earth,For eyes are rapid skepticsTossing light beyond the circles of earth.Flesh will remain and vacillateBetween the cocaine of beliefAnd times of wakefulnessDesigned to replenish the drug.Then reconstruct the faceWith shifting experimentsOf spirit, fantasy, and intellect,Intent upon violatingThe tyrannies of formal reiteration.Men will revile you and bestowThe necessary background.

If you subtract a nose you add religion,

Supine, and in a glitter of explanation

Expanding the unreasonable second

Of chattering, pugnacious flesh.

The inquisitive elevation of noses

Does not fit into the smooth

Curvatures of faith.

If you remove the lips you add

Philosophy, for lips express the warm

Quarrel of emotions and become

Crimson antagonists to contemplation.

If you subtract the eyes you add

The fertile smugness of earth,

For eyes are rapid skeptics

Tossing light beyond the circles of earth.

Flesh will remain and vacillate

Between the cocaine of belief

And times of wakefulness

Designed to replenish the drug.

Then reconstruct the face

With shifting experiments

Of spirit, fantasy, and intellect,

Intent upon violating

The tyrannies of formal reiteration.

Men will revile you and bestow

The necessary background.

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