Hoofs of Pegasus

<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>POMEGRANATES</h2> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0"><span class="bigfont">I</span>N city streets the blue dusk falls.</span> <span class="i0">The lights prick out. Folks hurry by.</span> <span class="i0">Buses are thronged. Sleek motors flash.</span> <span class="i0">“Extra—ship sunk!” the newsboys cry.</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Before a little shop I pause</span> <span class="i0">Where Pietro sells, strange, precious fruit,</span> <span class="i0">Great globes of scarlet, heaps of gold</span> <span class="i0">Barbaric as a pirate’s loot.</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I see pomegranates glowing there,</span> <span class="i0">And I forget the strident night,</span> <span class="i0">I hear the song of Solomon—</span> <span class="i0">“Return, return, O Shulamite.</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Thy lips are like a scarlet thread,</span> <span class="i0">O prince’s daughter, thou art fair;</span> <span class="i0">Thy garments are perfumed with myrrh,</span> <span class="i0">With aloes drips thy braided hair.”</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Dim fragrant gardens close me in,</span> <span class="i0">The city as a dream has gone,</span> <span class="i0">And from the South I feel the winds</span> <span class="i0">Blow soft from cedared Lebanon.</span></div> </div></div> <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />