By Amy Lowell
Over the housetops,
Above the rotating chimney-pots,
I have seen a shiver of amethyst,
And blue and cinnamon have flickered
A moment,
At the far end of a dusty street.
Through sheeted rain
Has come a lustre of crimson,
And I have watched moonbeams
Hushed by a film of palest green.
It was her wings,
Goddess!
Who stepped over the clouds,
And laid her rainbow feathers
Aslant on the currents of the air.
I followed her for long,
With gazing eyes and stumbling feet.
I cared not where she led me,
My eyes were full of colours:
Saffrons, rubies, the yellows of beryls,
And the indigo-blue of quartz;
Flights of rose, layers of chrysoprase,
Points of orange, spirals of vermilion,
The spotted gold of tiger-lily petals,
The loud pink of bursting hydrangeas.
I followed,
And watched for the flashing of her wings.
In the city I found her,
The narrow-streeted city.
In the market-place I came upon her,
Bound and trembling.
Her fluted wings were fastened to her sides with cords,
She was naked and cold,
For that day the wind blew
Without sunshine.
Men chaffered for her,
They bargained in silver and gold,
In copper, in wheat,
And called their bids across the market-place.
The Goddess wept.
Hiding my face I fled,
And the grey wind hissed behind me,
Along the narrow streets.
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We had VVA coming to pick up donations on Tuesday, so we did a bunch of basement cleanup and gave away most of the kitchen and bedroom stuff our kids brought home from their college apartments, though the basement is still cluttered with things we need to sort and get rid of (old computer parts, kids' room furniture). I stayed in during the morning waiting for the truck, since we had assorted crates and trash cans full of dishes and stuff, not to be confused with our actual trash and recycling bins. Then I went to a raid, took a walk though it was drizzly, and did a bunch of equally unexciting chores.
We watched The Flash which I swear they only wrote because someone came up with the title "Grodd Friended Me" (and couldn't make as good as that title but at least no long gorilla arc), then Legends of Tomorrow, which also could not sustain the level of fun with Genghis Khan that one shout of "KHAAAAAAAN!" could accomplish. We also watched For Life, which in some ways gets real about things but in other ways seems ridiculously scripted and sanitized. Since we had gloomy skies all day, here are some of the spring flowers and birds that were already brightening DC last weekend:
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