Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SLEEP WALKERS, by NATHALIA CRANE First Line: You who read the rituals Last Line: Takes a camel's toes. | ||||||||
You who read the rituals Scrawled about the rose, This concerns a journey 'Twixt a camel's toes. In an old oasis Basined like a shell There abode a red bloom -- Rajah of the Well. Round his porphery frontiers Yellow billows ran, Overhead a vapor Becked the caravan. 'Cross those saffron sand dunes 'Twixt a camel's toes Came an alien seedling, Grew another rose, Quite unlike the first one, Pallid as the dew, And a desert teasel Stood between the two. Love that nudged the by-laws, Made the statues lean, Eyed that arid teasel Standing in between. Sent the dusk -- a dervish Waving regnant arms; All the mangroves nodded, Drowsy were the palms. From an ancient nullah With authority Was dispensed the darkness, Censorless and free. Fountains juiced with poppy Sprayed on every hand; Fell the teasel's girdle Clinking to the sand. Prayed that ardent alien As the flower prays: Save me from the blemish -- Heartbreak of the vase. Pondered she o'er cradles 'Twixt the camel's toes; Swooned and by a well-spring Saw that other rose. As the sleeper walketh Chartless but serene, So she flanked the teasel Lolling in between. At that very hour, Orienting chance, Went a well-side rajah Straying down a trance, Far beyond the candles Of the catechists, Treading to a tangent -- Two somnambulists, In that old oasis Never more forlorn, Passing on the rosebud, Handing down the thorn, Giving breath to heaven For the new ones' need, Tutoring the leafage, Lanterning the weed, Halting all the aeons O'er a flower rite, Resurrecting Eden As it was at night. You who read the rituals Scrawled about the rose -- Love that lacks the howdah Takes a camel's toes. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BERKLEY COMMON by NATHALIA CRANE CASTLE 'BILL' by NATHALIA CRANE CASTLE WILLIAM by NATHALIA CRANE |
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