UPON THEIR FIRST MEETING

(a spring gathering and dance) April 15 1832


I was discoursing
on the use
and various joys
of the household plant-
With the soft greenness
it endowed on the
purity of the white walls,
In the tea room
with the quiet ones-
The women who nod
behind their fans
in place of conversation-
lest the noise of speaking
should startle their delicate gowns
into flight
like the butterfly wings
they emulated,
When you came into
the room in a quiet burst of colour—
red gold hair over
the greygreen of your coat
and eyes like noonsky.
And there was a silence
half a heartbeat long—
and the murmur went on
and the trilling voiceof the fluttering hostess
claimed my thoughts…
From where they were lost
in the history of
the silkworm and his labors
And you were there
smiling the small smile of courtesy
stretched over
the merriment that bubbled
from your eyes.
I was bemused to find myself in
the world of horses and foxes
suddenly
under the grasp of your creaseworn hands.
And I nodded as
our names bounced
between us like well oiled springs.
My friend called—
You nodded farewell
and the butterflies
reconvened.