Elegy for a Distant Relative
This rubble of stained glass
Once glittered for a man
Who clapped at brightness
Till the dark ran
With inhuman noise, with inhuman noise.
This sand turning to sand
Was once a watercourse
Whereon the bucking stream
Pranced like a horse
To a light place, to a light place.
These knuckles underground
Were once a medlar tree
Whose branches and straight leaves
Wavered lightly
From a green haze, from a green haze.
And this eye turning to dust
Was once a man-at-tears
Whose pity was fastened
On the frozen stars
In a silent place, in a silent place.
Structure
20 lines · 4 stanzas