I Catastrophe in a bric-a-brac shop. The proprietor lies murdered. Pieces of jars, cups, and vases Have attained the disorderly freedom That is so objectionable To scholars and bankrupt fanatics. Once the jars, cups, and vases Were unyielding and symmetrical And immersed in their task of holding nothing. Now they rest in pieces; Spell many an accidental sentence; Renounce the hollow lie. O Death, you shatter objects That were small and inflexible And give them little mysterious Possibilities. And we are grateful to you for that. Our eyes become weary scanning the living array. Each man takes his inch of belief Upon the Shelves, and will not move. Soon we know what he will say; Know the accompanying gestures That he will never forsake; Know the exact amount of space To which he insists on reducing his grace. Yet we must continue to see and listen! II Dear Minna, visit the orderly salons And look for missing Fixtures. Another poet or critic may be dead, Bringing to us our bit of pleasure. Dear Minna, buy the newspapers And read the relieving list of deaths. Banker, Freudian, and Dadaist Knocked from the bric-a-brac Shelves And altered to uncertain shadows, Exquisitely invisible, inviting Curiosity and conjecture. It is well that we are metaphysical. We must not lose the only delight That springs from peering at the living figures. Death must not become A mere black frame surrounding The memorized reiterations. Death must remain a surmise; Swallower of all traditions. And against his black must appear The colored gymnastics of words; The antics of unchained ideas; The "minor" and "decadent" host. III Dear Minna, insanity Is the rapture with which certain men Discover new combinations of words Accidentally released By a convulsion within their heads. When the catastrophe occurs The cups, jars, and vases are broken And wild hands play with them. Dear Minna, I love the promises Of insanity rounding your face. But be not always spontaneous. Let your madness approach Objects, with a conscious gallantry -- The first note in perfection. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...REVIEW by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE PAST IS THE PRESENT (2) by MARIANNE MOORE THE HOUSE BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD by SAM WALTER FOSS THE TUFT OF FLOWERS by ROBERT FROST A FAREWELL TO TOBACCO by CHARLES LAMB ST. MARTIN'S WALL by ANTON ALEXANDER VON AUERSPERG THE BLASPHEMER'S WARNING; A LAY OF ST. ROMWOLD by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM |