The following is a different version of this poem, entitled "The Old Woman Frying Perch." I found it in MORNING POEMS, a book I highly recommend for Bly enthusiasts. . .
The Old Woman Frying Perch
Have you heard about the boy who walked by
The black water? I won't say much more.
Let's wait a few years. It wanted to be entered.
Sometimes a man walks by a pond, and a hand
Reaches out and pulls him in.
There was no
Malice, exactly. The pond was lonely, or needed
Calcium. Bones would do. What happened then?
It was a little like the night wind, which is soft,
And moves slowly, sighing like an old woman
In her kitchen late at night, moving pans
About, lighting a fire, frying some perch for the cat.
2002-09-28
Added by: Christine Quiriy
I like this specificity of this version ("malice" instead of "intention" and "perch" instead of "food") much better.
It seems that Bly modified the original with Donald Hall in mind?
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The Old Woman Frying Perch
Have you heard about the boy who walked by
The black water? I won't say much more.
Let's wait a few years. It wanted to be entered.
Sometimes a man walks by a pond, and a hand
Reaches out and pulls him in.
There was no
Malice, exactly. The pond was lonely, or needed
Calcium. Bones would do. What happened then?
It was a little like the night wind, which is soft,
And moves slowly, sighing like an old woman
In her kitchen late at night, moving pans
About, lighting a fire, frying some perch for the cat.