I. IRIS It was better so
When you did not know--
A short while ago. You are kind indeed,
And my hungers feed
Since you feel my need. But I pay in pain
And how very vain
The few hours I gain. In the old distress
There was little stress
For, companionless, I would paint the days,
With my heart a phase
Of an ancient phrase. Now, imperative
For my soul to live
Is the joy you give! I am torn with fear
You will disappear,
When you are not near. It was better so
When you did not know-- II. GREY ROOM Dearest,
But not the nearest--
If I call
Will you come
To the dying?
I am lying
Brumal, dumb
By the wall.
Dearest,
But never the nearest
When I fall
Through the gods,
Or the odds. III. NIGHT SOUNDS: IN ESTRANGEMENT The whole night through
To lie waiting for you
To come down the long corridor to me!
Hints of you, sweet,
A hundred times your feet
Near as the walls and floors move wearily. Midnight to dawn,
Bringing oblivion,
I taste the night sounds as the stir of you.
Ghosts of a white
Flame lingering in flight
When the torture of the listening is through.