Life is a troubled dream, and all that is written,
And recorded, and published, is wrong.
The poet studies notes because notes are seen,
But never by the ear which hears the song.
The paper is presented; the scholars nod, and walk away
Into misty decision.
All that was perfected and built,
Falls in the middle of derision.
Innocence will admit its guilt
To the assembled, or be silent, and be guilty, anyway,
Tomorrow, in worry, or in joy the next day.
She, with the deepest sigh,
A wife, deeply conflicted,
Lets the kiss stay, and life go by.
She can go into the public places,
Hear the music and see the faces,
And what they report later will be false.
In the moment Lily came near me,
Her eyebrows were all I wanted:
A shape in a moment hides for eternity,
Belonging to a bright world by a dark poem haunted.