1987 Homage à Lawrence Durrell
Here's a ditty
To a smitty
Teller, tinker
Indian inkler
Irish genie
English meany
Ice in a hot wind.
Nile and blue Algonquin
Sing in Greek to Aphrodite
Potawatomi to me.
Muezzin, give an Indo-European hoot
Lo, the alphabet's back in my soup.
(I think of Mnemidis, who ate letters,
Swallowed a watch, and knifed his betters.)
Hail fuller, swager, maker of new
May your pound resound and your bang ring true.
May your words be mine, or for the dustbin,
Laughing-stock, Love's husband.