This tree,
   this pine-tree
was absolutely lovely in the field
  and absolutely round -
like the head of a close-cropped Tobago girl.

But all the snows of Russia
 did not let
me make such fine comparisons,
  because
I do not have to lose myself
  in mysteries of an exotic mind,
my sense of orientation in the world
  of both - reality
and wild imagination.





Jan. 7, 2005