I watched the pretty woman
Cutting hedges down the road
From a house where I am always welcome
Barearmed, hair back, bending
Sometimes up on a ladder
She made
All chaos and disorder fall about her feet
As she restored order in her world
And as she worked Apollo from his Chariot saw
And he made again the light and peace
As it had been from where we came
And as it has always been promised
Saturday Evening
Out of cold twilight on a winter's eve
In an almost abandoned summer town
From across a street
A girl's young laughter reaches me
As I reach the chapel door.
Inside the chilly empty chamber
I find an appropriate pew
I hear music from a farther room.
I am alone where I have been before
With love and doubt and hope
Now the laughter and the music are enough.
As I wait to take Communion
Although I do not know with whom.
Sparrows
For the most part
Except near the parks
The birds of the city are sparrows
It is after all their city
And they use it well
Hurrying to the curb or to the
Flowers underneath a locust tree
Consulting in small groups at corners
Or standing still in meditative trance
Watching a passing dog
Or settling on a branch
And noting our irrelevance
As we hurry to the curb
Consult in small groups
Or stand stilled in meditative trance
As we wait for the lights
To change at the corners
