Had we but world enough, and time,

(And all was fair in love and war,)

To read the mariner's ancient rime,

And know what stout Cortez first saw,

Perhaps then we would understand

What Sophocles heard upon the dark Aegean;

And how Agamemnon felt.

Or when, on Dover's cobbled beach

Arnold had his nation knelt

In a moment's soul's reflection.

Plath ate her men like air.

Tantalus served the gods his son.

But to dine with literary kings and queens,

And share their feast, is an honor I've yet won.

Mid-Summer Dance

The next time you go running in circles daydreaming, take me with you.

Round and round and round and round

Until the sky clears, clouds disperse on the ocean,

Dancing.

On unswept autumn leaves.

On a hillside with the heavens open - soaking you to the skin.

A field of long grass in morning mist, of corn at sunset.

Flowers in your hair, linen round your shoulders, round your waist,

Freckles swimming in flushed cheeks, auburn hair

Whipping round your face. Smiling, laughing,

Round and round you race, chasing down your dreams,

Leaving normality behind. Up you soar

To dizzying heights,

Forgetting sleep on summer nights.