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Read more poems by Conrad Aiken: Conrad Aiken Poems at Poetry X.

He thinks her little feet should pass 
Where dandelions star thickly grass; 
Her hands should lift in sunlit air 
Sea-wind should tangle up her hair. 
Green leaves, he says, have never heard 
A sweeter ragtime mockingbird, 
Nor has the moon-man ever seen, 
Or man in the spotlight, leering green, 
Such a beguiling, smiling queen.

Her eyes, he says, are stars at dusk, 
Her mouth as sweet as red-rose musk; 
And when she dances his young heart swells 
With flutes and viols and silver bells; 
His brain is dizzy, his senses swim, 
When she slants her ragtime eyes at him. . .

Moonlight shadows, he bids her see, 
Move no more silently than she. 
It was this way, he says, she came, 
Into his cold heart, bearing flame. 
And now that his heart is all on fire 
Will she refuse his heart's desire?— 
And O! has the Moon Man ever seen 
(Or the spotlight devil, leering green) 
A sweeter shadow upon a screen?

Added: 12 Aug 2002 | Last Read: 5 Sep 2008 12:53 PM | Viewed: 1443 times

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