If Ice had Formed
If ice had formed around
Madeira
Or cycads grew around the
Pole
It would not be the more
surprising
Than how the mind makes poems
whole
To find the skull of Alexander
The heel of Montezuma's boot
Is less astonishment for
me
Than minor plangents on a
lute
As if the Lord commanded you
To dip Euphrates on the sand
Then take a fistful
of the mud
To warm creation in your
hand
As if the Lord instructed
you
To draw a bucket up and when
You've drunk the water to
the bottom
Sing the music of the wren
God has power so astounding
Time and space can hold no
equal:
He puts a soul inside a skull
And draws the plan of Chartre's
steeple
Never will it signify
If bloody murder stain
our hands
That human fingers cannot
play
Vivaldi's suites, Bach's
sarabands
