for Ezra Stiles Gannett (1801-1871)
Marry on Monday for health, as they say.
You are Adonis, the very figure of rejuvenation, and I
picture your fiancée in her pale green wedding gown,
the bodice sewn with orange blossoms. The summer
wedding brings a spring child who, by the time
my trees are ready for harvest, knows your face
in the orbit of her breast, your voice
in the continual purr of the universe. Here,
too, the yield is good. The branches heavy
with pears. I pluck the ripest this evening,
eating in the garden while I wait for Venus to wink.
Then I return to my desk to write and tell you
I have been thinking of you and the singleness of your purpose.
And to ask you , now, for a lock of your hair.
(An Elastic State of Mind. D.L.D.’s Autobiography in Poems. Wigestrand forlag, 2012)
Thank you for taking the time to read/listen. I’ll be back Sunday with another process journal entry.
I hope you have a great week!
Warmly,
Ren Powell’s Acts of a Recovering Drama Queen
Writing against Melodrama by Engaging with the Natural World
Give some love. It only takes a little ❤️.