A DREAM OF JEALOUSY

Walking with you and another lady

In wooded parkland, the whispering grass

Ran its fingers through our guessing silence

And the trees opened into a shady

Unexpected clearing where we sat down.

I think the candour of the light dismayed us.

We talked about desire and being jealous,

Our conversation a loose single gown

Or a white picnic tablecloth spread out

Like a book of manners in the wilderness.

‘Show me’, I said to our companion, ‘what

I have much coveted, your breast’s mauve star’.

And she consented. Oh neither these verses

Nor my prudence, love, can heal your wounded stare.