A History of Upswelling Poisons Unintended
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
e plants some seeds, some sentences and words
In rows. What might become of clauses, verbs,
And paragraphs he cannot know. Black birds
May carry them to nests, or loathsome herbs
May twist when others cross them. Mildest monks
May meditate on some of them, not all
Of course, but just the spells that grow to trunks
Of mystic forests. Foreign kings may scrawl
One phrase in death decrees in foreign years,
Selected for its venom. Words return
In guises alien to women’s tears.
The sentiments will trap a saint and burn
Her at an unpredicted stake. His lines
Refuse to grow inside intended signs.