ELLEN HINSEY
ON THE HOURS IN THE NIGHT GARDEN
I
You have been born for this. The path laid out,
Your final arrival anticipated like the dry scent
Of wild lavender in Lenten light along the hill;
But the glorious air, all unexpected newness --
II
You have been born for this - but unprepared,
The traffic of your cells carries but one desire --
To resist -- this and all that is inevitable; to resist
That which so quickly undoes what, at the outset,
Was only so fragilely and temporally constructed;
But night's rugged glow against the ancient hill --
III
The body is only at home on this earth, finally tied
As it is to all matter: the currents of the arteries
Wild as water coursing the river's embankment,
Pulse constant as the globe in its spheric weight,
The Planisphere of the body moving among all
Forms -- wishing to be held fast in love's gravity;
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