Meeting at North Campus
I have come down the shimmering sidewalk
shimmering like a reflecting pool
of one-eyed, witch-globed lamplights,
I have come this long way to see you
out of the nightmare to talk.
Why do you stand face turned away
bark of your back to me?
Do you think me a ghost shadow fluttering
darkly on your soul? A chill wind voice
to sway down on your sway?
Ah, look how the walls leap up
in jointless brick monotony! You say
that this white-faced doorway
you say that it’s not for me?
The pebbled brick of the sidewalk
eat up the starlight
like electric digestion.
Is my body to your soul
the same chemical dereliction?
That is the question.
The yellow, shimmering outdoor lights
blinding our sight — their wet glares
fall on the glass of our eyes, the soft cornea
overawed at this clash of electric and night!
