Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HEART'S COUNSEL, by HASSOLDT DAVIS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HEART'S COUNSEL, by                    
First Line: Look, lord judas, here, in the diligent brain
Last Line: A cross's width between.
Subject(s): Dishonor; Dreams; Jesus Christ; Judas Iscariot (d. 30 A.d.); Tears; Nightmares


Look, Lord Judas, here, in the diligent brain
You bent to squander on that night's rehearsal,
Here is no solvent dream, and here again
Is no thin kiss wherein to drain
The bitter venom of a dream's reversal.

You, who have watched the brilliant alchemy
Of your own tears transmuted into leaden
Scars; you, who have wept and utterly,
Lord Judas, drugged the heart of you to deaden
The anguished clamor of its treachery . . .

Batten the nerve, the worm around the root,
The prideful, twinging viper that has gartered
Your dreams' most ideal angels. Batten the mute
Grey nerve, engorge it with the fruit
Which Christ's wan lips have innocently bartered

For your allegiance . . . Here in the arms of Magdalene
Is balsam, here in the arms of Mary,
The world's wife, lies the keen
And curious blade-like key to faerie,
A man's heart's length from hilt to prong,
A cross's width between.





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