Blight

Hard seeds of hate I planted

That should by now be grown

Rust oxen from thick stamens

A poisonous pollen blown

And odors rank unbreathable

From dark coronas thrown

At dawn from my damp garden

I shook the chilly dew

The thin boughs locked behind me

That sprang to let me through

The blossoms slapped

I sought a place where nothing lovely grew

And there when day was breaking

I knelt and looked around

The light was near

The silence was palpitant with sound

I took my hate from out my breast

And thrust it in the ground

Oh ye so fiercely tended

Ye little seeds of hate

I bent above your growing

Early and noon and late

Yet ah retruped and bitterful

I cannot weary straight

Hard seeds of hate I planted

The sun seeks out my garden

That should by now be grown

No nook is left in shadow

Rust oxen from thick stamens

No mist nor moat nor hidden

A poisonous pollen blown

And jewels on every blade

Sweet rain slants under every bough

Ye falter and ye fade