Nature’s Ruin

O now let all things float by as in a sea.
Now let the voice, without anger, hope or pain,
tell of the other side, the vacancy

plucked from the air . . . a dead-note melody
that sweeping across all wilds, unnerves the brain.
O now let all things float by as in a sea.

The grass reminds me what it is to be.
But then its words, rushing in a green stain,
tell of the other side, the vacancy.

By the roadside a wanton budding tree
states its desires, makes its intentions plain.
O now let all things float by as in a tree.

All my designs on Nature’s property
are hereby freed. The landscape and the rain
tell of the other side, the vacancy.

A greater knowledge comes to rescue me.
My mind, through Nature’s ruin, blown back again.
O now let all things float by as in a sea.
Tell of the other side, the vacancy.