I swear that I would not go back
To pole the glass fishpools where the rough breath lies
That built the Earth - there, under the heavy trees
With their bark that's full of grocer's spice,

Not for an hour - although my heart
Moves, thirstily, to drink the thought - would I
Go back to run my boat
On the brown rain that made it slippery,

I would not for a youth
Return to ignorance, and be the wildfowl
Thrown about by the dark water seasons
With an ink-storm of dark moods against my soul,

And no firm ground inside my breast,
Only the breath of God that stirs
Scent-kitchens of refreshing trees,
And the shabby green cartilage of play upon my knees.

With no hard earth inside my breast
To hold a Universe made out of breath,
Slippery as fish with their wet mortar made of mirrors
I laid a grip of glass upon my youth.

And not for the waterpools would I go back
To a Universe unreal as breath - although I use
The great muscle of my heart
To thirst like a drunkard for the scent-storm of the trees.