Robert Francis

Part for the Whole

When others run to windows or out of doorsTo catch the sunset whole, he is contentWith any segment anywhere he sits.From segment, fragment, he can reconstructThe whole, prefers to reconstruct the whole,As if to say, I see more seeing less.A window to the east will serve as wellAs window to the west, for eastern skyEchoes…

Two boys uncoached are tossing a poem together,

Teasing with attitudes, latitudes, interludes, altitudes,High, make him fly off the ground for it, low, make him stoop,Make him scoop it up, make him as-almost-as possible miss it,Fast, let him sting from it, now, now fool him slowly,Anything, everything tricky, risky, nonchalant,Anything under the sun to outwit the prosy,Over the tree and the long sweet…

The first speaker said

Incinerators, the city dumpThe faint scratch of a match.The second speaker saidFear water. Fear drenching rainDrizzle, oceans, puddles, a dampDay and the flush toilet.The third speaker saidFear wind. And it needn’t beA hurricane. Drafts, openWindows, electric fans.The fourth speaker saidFear knives. Fear any sharpThing, machine, shearsScissors, lawnmowers.The fifth speaker saidHope. Hope for the bestA smooth…

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Searock he built, not ivory.Searock as well his haunted artWho gave to plunging hawks his hearts.2He loved to stand upon his headTo demonstrate he was not dead.Ah, if his poems misbehave‘Tis only to defy the grave.3This exquisite patrician birdGrooming a neatly folded wingGuarded for years the Sacred Word.A while he sang then ceased to sing.4His…

Those who have touched it or been touched by it

Or burning it, have stood where the sly smokeHas touched them-Know the meaning of its name.The leaf is smooth. Its green is innocence.A clean, unblemished leaf, glossy when young.A leaf the unobserving might overlookAnd the observing find too prosperous.I’ve seen a vine of it so old and crookedIt held a hen-coop in its grip, the…