a poem by James Wright

this came from my friend Richmond Hoxie today:

A Blessing
by James Wright

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the youg tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
---------------------------------------------

I am moving furiously through my days
cleaning, shoving
hacking up old memories and cleaning out cobwebs
it is alternately invigorating and nauseating
and soon there will be nothing more to clean
and nothing more to rearrange
and he will still be gone and
that time of our lives gone and over.
That is enormously difficult
and I long to break into blossom already..
and be done with it before I have even begun.