free-verse61 lines

Senlin, A Biography: Part 02: His Futile Preoccupations - 04

by Conrad Potter Aiken

That woman, did she try to attract my attention?

Is it true I saw her smile and nod?

She turned her head and smiled . . . was it for me?

It is better to think of work or god.

The clouds pile coldly above the houses

Slow wind revolves the leaves:

It begins to rain, and the first long drops

Are slantingly blown from eaves.

But it is true she tried to attract my attention!

She pressed a rose to her chin and smiled.

Her hand was white by the richness of her hair,

Her eyes were those of a child.

It is true she looked at me as if she liked me.

And turned away, afraid to look too long!

She watched me out of the corners of her eyes;

And, tapping time with fingers, hummed a song.

. . . Nevertheless, I will think of work,

With a trowel in my hands;

Or the vague god who blows like clouds

Above these dripping lands . . .

But . . . is it sure she tried to attract my attention?

She leaned her elbow in a peculiar way

There in the crowded room . . . she touched my hand . . .

She must have known, and yet, she let it stay.

Music of flesh! Music of root and sod!

Leaf touching leaf in the rain!

Impalpable clouds of red ascend,

Red clouds blow over my brain.

Did she await from me some sign of acceptance?

I smoothed my hair with a faltering hand.

I started a feeble smile, but the smile was frozen:

Perhaps, I thought, I misunderstood.

Is it to be conceived that I could attract her,

This dull and futile flesh attract such fire?

I, with a trowel's dullness in hand and brain!

Take on some godlike aspect, rouse desire?

Incredible! . . . delicious! . . . I will wear

A brighter color of tie, arranged with care,

I will delight in god as I comb my hair.

And the conquests of my bolder past return

Like strains of music, some lost tune

Recalled from youth and a happier time.

I take my sweetheart's arm in the dusk once more;

One more we climb

Up the forbidden stairway,

Under the flickering light, along the railing:

I catch her hand in the dark, we laugh once more,

I hear the rustle of silk, and follow swiftly,

And softly at last we close the door.

Yes, it is true that woman tried to attract me:

It is true she came out of time for me,

Came from the swirling and savage forest of earth,

The cruel eternity of the sea.

She parted the leaves of waves and rose from silence

Shining with secrets she did not know.

Music of dust! Music of web and web!

And I, bewildered, let her go.

I light my pipe. The flame is yellow,

Edged underneath with blue.

These thoughts are truer of god, perhaps,

Than thoughts of god are true.