From the Hazel Bough

Earle Birney
From:   Fall by Fury. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1977. With permission of the Estate of Earle Birney.

I met a lady
     on a lazy street
hazel eyes
     and little plush feet

her legs swam by
     like lovely trout
eyes were trees
     where boys leant out

hands in the dark and
     a river side
round breasts rising
     with the finger's tide

she was plump as a finch
     and live as a salmon
gay as silk and
     proud as a Brahmin

we winked when we met
     and laughed when we parted
never took time
     to be brokenhearted

but no man sees
     where the trout lie now
or what leans out
     from the hazel bough

Military Hospital, Toronto 1945/Vancouver 1947

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Earle Birney's works copyright © to the Estate of Earle Birney.
Reprinted with the permission of the Estate.