A poem should be palpable and mute As a globed fruit; Dumb As old medallions to the thumb; Silent as the sleeve-worn stone Of casement ledges where the moss has grown— A poem should be wordless As the flight of birds. A poem should be motionless in time As the moon climbs; Leaving, as the moon releases Twig by twig the night-entangled trees— Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves, Memory by memory the mind. A poem should be motionless in time As the moon climbs. A poem should be equal to: Not true. For all the history of grief An empty doorway and a maple leaf; For love The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea— A poem should not mean, But be.
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