Thursday, October 13, 2005

Laundry Day

“the still unfolded laundry warm as fresh bread in its basket.” -- Rebecca Loudon
Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir ;
Valse mélancolique et langoureux vertige !
-- Baudelaire “Harmonie du soir”


Chopin appears in the room,
conjured leisurely out of steam and ether—
languid waltz, melancholy vertigo,
sound and perfume rise in the evening air.

Conjured leisurely out of steam and ether,
her reflection gleams in the dark window;
sound and perfume rise in the evening air
warm as fresh bread in its basket.

Her reflection gleams in the dark window,
sails away from the still unfolded laundry
warm as fresh bread in its basket,
sways back and forth over the keyboard.

Sailing away from the still unfolded laundry—
melancholy waltz, languid vertigo—
swaying back and forth over the keyboard,
Chopin appears in the room.

3 comments:

Radish King said...

Ranger, it's absolutely lovely and the perfect form for the feeling of obsession. Thank you.

portuguesa nova said...

love it love it love it. How do you poets whip this stuff up??

Anonymous said...

Hey, what a fine poem. The repetitions works so well in here. Glad to see you back ;-)