Last summer, in the blue heat, <br />Over the beach, in the burning air, <br />A legless beggar lurched on calloused fists <br />To where I waited with the sun-dazed birds. <br />He said, "The summer boils away. My life <br />Joins to another life; this parched skin <br />Dries and dies and flakes away, <br />Becomes your costume when the torn leaves blow." <br /> <br />--Thus in the losing autumn, <br />Over the streets, I now lurch <br />Legless to your side and speak your name <br />Under a gray sky ripped apart <br />By thunder and the changing wind.<br /><br />Weldon Kees<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/la-vita-nuova/
