Richard Harteis
Autumn on the River
"Downriver, other dogs take up the work.
They are clearing a path for the barges of cold
and silence which the creatures are expecting."
William Meredith, "Winter on the River"
My head drinks in the pillow,
the phylactery is full. The provident
geese have all flown town,
the lazy swans dawdle on, oblivious.
The cricket plays to an empty house.
A battalion of bees has commandeered
the humming bird feeder. School busses
careen around the countryside like
yellow dragons. Red bleeds into the maple
bright as a warning flag: Here she comes,
here she comes. Better get off the tracks.
Autumn comes barreling down
with barges of ice sure to follow.
Time to buy some No More Tears
and shampoo my baby-thin hair.
Time for a cap and scarf, time to air
the moth balls and assess the damage.
Time to repair, transplant and harvest,
time to nurture the heart
till spring once more revives.
family photo
The Cricket Sings the Blues
Que Sera Sera
Eat, drink and be merry,
for tomorrow we diet.
We danced the night away
under the electric moon.
Music was as easy as
crossing your legs,
love, a non-stop friction.
Stars exploded anywhere we
looked across the majestic sky.
We seized every minute of the day.
We ate our fill, at will, from
the earth's resplendent bounty
and we lost ourselves in the
endless kiss of summer.
Now fall comes roaring in
in his pimpmobile
to shut down the party
and collect the rent.
It's all soggy confetti
and stale beer. The drummer's
split, the fiddle repossessed.
All we can muster is an
arthritic squeak for the bored
clean-up crew mopping the floors.
No place left to crash, the sun
bears down like a nasty hangover.
crows line up in their black robes
and caw from the tops of trees:
"get your ass out of the garden,
and get a job" to we, who only lately
were the very definition of delight!
Oh man . . . .
Wind Over Water
(A country song)
Like a wind over water
The tide in the sea
Your spirit still moves me
Though the world has stopped turning
Since you are not here.
When the wheat field is waving
And the clouds dance above
Your love it protects me
from pain and the grave
So blow on me darling
Rekindle my fire
Let memory take us
The heart's full desire
We'll walk in the valley
The mountain's high bliss
I give you my soul dear
This eternal kiss
You live deep inside me
like the core of a tree
that reaches to heaven
and grows tenderly
I'll carry you darling
for days and for years
time hasn't the power
to dry up these tears
For like a wind over water
The tide in the sea
You spirit still moves me
and the world will start turning
When you reappear
The Lone Swan
makes his radiant way
on a ribbon of light that
mirrors the sky's proud flag:
red, gold, silver, lavender.
Such a brave white chest
gliding effortlessly
on the water, concealing
the great paddles pulling
against the current below.
Where is he traveling in the
fading light? Where is
his legendary mate? Not even
his reflection for comfort,
oblivious to his beauty.
Tonight no fox will ruin his nest
no hunter trespass his sleep.
Tonight he'll ascend the ladder
of light cast across the water
to lay his breast against the moon,
to wrap his wings about his lover
and blanket the dreaming world below
in the sweet consummation of their shadow.
Richard Harteis' latest book, The Revenant (Little Red Tree.com), includes a series of elegies
for his late partner, the poet William Meredith, and poems for his dog Daisy
who has become a channel to the other side. He is president of the William Meredith Foundation and lives
in West Palm Beach and Uncasville, Connecticut, where his home has recently
been added to the State Registry of Historic Landmarks and established as the
William Meredith Center for the Arts. In 2008 a 35-mm film was produced based
on his memoir, Marathon (W.W.
Norton). www.MarathonTheMovie.com.
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