LEARNING ABOUT FRENCH GARDENS
Here it is, Eden
green and breathing mass
so many voices
it was not ours to make a Versailles of it,
rather
a way must be found to walk in it.
Let us not domesticate
make a barnyard of beauty,
but let us
be brave enough.
(1971)
WHALE POEM
Following a rite of passage
north to south
to mate, bear young,
the great plankton eaters
pass slowly
pass the ancient way
filtering the ocean for its wealth.
they kill the whale
for oil, and various
household purposes
soap products, with which hands
are washed clean
the great heart
can pump the water read
for 500 feet
the last thrust
of pain
stirs the water
into turbulence that spreads out
a Mandela of loss
and falls on the coast
of Alaska.
a blue whale was washed ashore
in Maine
they brought their cameras
beach blankets and bee bee guns
came to see
this antediluvian creature
laid to rest
some left initials behind
"JW was here"
carved into the gray mass
with pocket knives.
1972
OCEAN PIECE
Think of this song
this song in you
what is it?
what is this music you carry?
Think of this song in you
standing at the mouth
mouth of the ocean at dark
into the darkness this song
the ocean makes
one thought, an opening and
singing the ocean, I pass
hold this song to you
it is not your own
you are a part of it
