T.L. Morrisey

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

"Lyrics of Air" by Louis Dudek



Lyrics of Air
by Louis Dudek
This April air has texture
of soft scented ocean on my face --
no ripple against the skin
but open waves, parabolas from some April place
in the sky, like silk between the fingers
from old Cathay, blown about, or like gigantic roses
whose petals, waving, fall on my face
with a faultless petaline smoothness.
Delicate as a pear, this milk-white air,
to pour over the crust of windy March.
Give me a mouthful of such air, digestible as water,
to rarify in the bones and flow
                                    upward, until
from the bud of my cold lips poetic leaves may grow.
Small Perfect Things (DC Books, Montreal, 1991)

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