Oh prancing letters! – aggrieving the mind,
Waltzing upon the – bending stream,
Meaning – ivory tippet of that lady kind –
Nor the zilch essence of a forgotten dream.
All the letters –– I can remember
Are not as fine as this ––
Musings of plush ––
Velvet-textured –– square paragraphs,
Profundity –– as deep –– as dying crimson ––
Scattered on the canvas ––
Hid in the magic box ––
And in the splashes of mincing bucketfuls ––
And sometime –– when thou playest a tune ––
With that buzzing bee of Potwar
In sleep
Yet upon thy golden palms ma’am ––
Each dawn is last, thou dost say.