From where I lived to the campus was a little over a dozen miles over rolling piedmont hills and thick forests. A mile or so from campus was the county seat, a mere crossroads with a near two and a half century history called Wentworth. In those days, being consumed willingly by the English Romantics as well as the American Transcendentalists, my senses were wide open, especially in those early morning drives to class.
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Wordsworth, and so I share a poem certainly written under his influence, written even as I gazed on daffodils.
Reflections on an Emotion While
Watching a Sunrise Along the Wentworth Road
Such emotion
Is a delicacy of sweet sourness,
Easing into my mind
Drawing me blind
To the one who would touch me.
Upon my lintel lies “Questions”
Where once lay “Communion.”
And nothing will draw near,
But all take caution to steer ... clear.
And this sunrise I now watch
Was yellow and pink only moments ago.
But now there is only grey, and
Whiteness will begin this day.
The sun brings a purity
I don’t particularly like.
It washes away colors, with
Its purity of white.
The air this morning is rather cold
And my three dollar watch
Tells of moments sold.
And now my dues are due.
Brief Case Poems (1973-1979)