William Carlos Williams

“ March,
you remind me of
the pyramids, our pyramids—
stript of the polished stone
that used to guard them!
March, you are like Fra Angelico
at Fiesole, painting on plaster!
March,
you are like a band of
young poets that have not learned
the blessedness of warmth
(or have forgotten it) . ”

“ Sacred bulls—dragons
in embossed brickwork
marching—in four tiers—
along the sacred way to
Nebuchadnezzar's throne hall!
They shine in the sun,
they that have been marching—
marching under the dust of
ten thousand dirt years. ”

“ My second spring—painted
a virgin—in a blue aureole
sitting on a three-legged stool,
arms crossed—
she is intently serious,
⁠and still
watching an angel
with coloured wings
half kneeling before her—
and smiling—the angel's eyes
holding the eyes of Mary
as a snake's holds a bird's.
On the ground there are flowers,
trees are in leaf. ”