Religion
(poem 6)
A man and woman use
the freedom of a garden; a green bowl
filling with light; all stone, colour and cool,
perpetual surprise.
Their eyes can never rest, but on some thing
well-shaped; uncommon; fashioned to their liking.
They cannot leave alone;
though all is well, their hands still itch to do.
The leaf is not so seemly on the bough,
but they will have it down;
strip the bright branch to mend the nakedness
of their fair bodies; ever making good less.
At last the manor's lord
comes by and says: 'These gardeners will mar
what I most loved and trusted to their care,'
(and that's a double word,
for nothing seemed to him so brave and bright
as they, when he dismissed them from his sight).
Of course it could not be.
It was a pretty tale; even believers
agreed they were a myth, the gardeners.
We should learn history,
which tells the truth, and makes old errors plain,
and helps us to avoid the like again.
Page(s) 9
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