H.D., "Garden"

I

You are clear
O rose, cut in rock,
hard as the descent of hail.

I could scrape the colour
from the petals
like spilt dye from a rock.

If I could break you
I could break a tree.

If I could stir
I could break a tree--
I could break you.

II

O wind, rend open the heat,
cut apart the heat,

rend it to tatters. Fruit cannot drop
through this thick air--
fruit cannot fall into heat
that presses up and blunts
the points of pears
and rounds hte grapes.

Cut the heat--
plough through it,
turning it on either side
of your path.