Three Poems by John Swain

by John Swain

Lotus Silk

Lay your lotus silk over the river globe

to float like our sleeping,

I stretch parchment

for the moon you scepter.

The night covers a pomegranate tree

full of dark birds,

you fill your hands with sky and water,

I touch my mouth to the fountain

and light our writings inside an earthen jar.

We cross the reed beds

on an architecture of flattened ladders,

the maze of lotus gates behind our steps,

you orient the true north,

we compass a blue jewel in the wheel.

The Bell Cords

Sky rises from lily and white rose,

you etch a chalice on the marble wall

as I lean from the table

to draw crossed reeds on a pale stone.

Sun lifts the glass roofs open to light

like a fire shield

in the porphyry evening

and the lamps cup

the river springing eastward from a bright hill.

We taste fragrant embers in the pavilion,

I hold a jute bowl

and we give thanks,

I breathe air and write the words

you sing immense over the bell cords.

The Rain Basin

A shower of water

curtains the light

at your side

on the marble tiles,

we look at the sun

shape trees of sky

with the light

and the fountain

we basin like rain

in a porcelain vase.