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1886–1950

IV

John Gould Fletcher

Twisted fragments of violet paper, The dawn drops you Into the green bowl filled with the day's grey waves. I love the night's

Deep purple grapes That yesterday Were crushed and spilled, In long and sluggish rivers

That joined and made a sea, Where, half-guessed through the mist, Two golden sails Drifted on silently.

The blue fume of my dreams Is laced with violet flame. One golden sail alone came back to rest In its nest

Among the reeds. The other sail is lost; Behind the mist, Beyond the craggy rock,

About which race in jagged white The waves, Horizon on horizon far away She waits.

But through the day, Comes no faint song, nor creaking of the ropes. Twisted fragments of violet paper, Charred and fallen:

Out of the green bowl lazily coils grey smoke.

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IV · John Gould Fletcher · Poetry Cove