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manon
(from: Manon of the Spring)
when you see her, you must fall in love with her,
if you are a man. if you are a writer, you must
write about her.
in these hills above Provencal, she tends goats. I come
here to hunt, & I have watched her. from my hidden
place behind the rocks, I’ve watched her bathe in the
stream. when she emerges from the water, crystal gems
drip languidly from her alluring form.
she dances naked as the goats graze, oblivious to her joy.
the wind strums the thin branches of the trees as if they
were cello strings, & the stream makes the noises of
chimes as it flows. birds unseen warble their timid songs.
these are her symphony & her choir.
I, in my secret perch, am enthralled by the immaculate
art of her. the flames of wickedness that I was born with
surge within me; their rage tells me I’m a man.
such pastoral elegance, beheld by nature & my vile
interloping eyes, must not be infringed upon, & I am too
noble, or perhaps too cowardly, to approach. if I love her,
the word will never pass my lips, but lie in sleep beside
my cruel, unworthy kiss.
she dances with a passion that is magnificent & outrageous,
that must surrender its essence only to poetry. and I have
written it as I have seen it.
a woman like this will not live her years among the goats.
she will one day be the comfort (amatory beauty that makes
me weep) in a man’s bed.
she has much to learn. but I will not teach her…
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