Seasons of Glass (for James Wright)

Autumn comes from Summer

The leaves they turn to brown

I took my bottle to the river

and I drank that whiskey down

Water swirls

The night wind curls

Sky grows black and wild

Strong as a prayer

To a god who isn’t there

I am neither father nor child

Water flows through Summer

and it freezes up past Fall

I drank that bottle empty

and it did me no damn good at all

Dusk moves in over daytime

Stars start to shine above

Later moon cast the colour of a white wine

Breathed to make me dream cold love

Mouth opened round

Gave birth to no sound

Lost in a jar of sleep

Eyes rolled back

Stared at all that I lack

And the kiss of shame tongued deep

Dreams are made in the daytime

Turn to fear by the light of the moon

I gathered up the bottle of a lifetime

Drank the empty taste of empty doom

1978

The Green Album