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water tower over tennis court: photo by Clayton Percy, 7 March 2014
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foot of the water tower night: photo by Clayton Percy, 7 March 2014
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base of the tower, no parking. a quieter view true to the nature of the place: photo by Clayton Percy, 7 March 2014
They dream only of America
To be lost among the thirteen million pillars of grass:
"This honey is delicious
Though it burns the throat."
And hiding from darkness in barns
They can be grownups now
And the murderer's ashtray is more easily --
The lake a lilac cube.
He holds a key in his right hand.
"Please," he asked willingly.
He is thirty years old.
That was before
We could drive hundreds of miles
At night through dandelions.
When his headache grew worse we
Stopped at a wire filling station.
Now he cared only about signs.
Was the cigar a sign?
And what about the key?
He went slowly into the bedroom.
"I would not have broken my leg if I had not fallen
Against the living room table. What is it to be back
Beside the bed? There is nothing to do
For our liberation, except wait in the horror of it.
And I am lost without you."
John Ashbery: They Dream Only of America, from The Partisan Review, Summer 1959; reprinted in The Tennis Court Oath, 1962
To be lost among the thirteen million pillars of grass:
"This honey is delicious
Though it burns the throat."
And hiding from darkness in barns
They can be grownups now
And the murderer's ashtray is more easily --
The lake a lilac cube.
He holds a key in his right hand.
"Please," he asked willingly.
He is thirty years old.
That was before
We could drive hundreds of miles
At night through dandelions.
When his headache grew worse we
Stopped at a wire filling station.
Now he cared only about signs.
Was the cigar a sign?
And what about the key?
He went slowly into the bedroom.
"I would not have broken my leg if I had not fallen
Against the living room table. What is it to be back
Beside the bed? There is nothing to do
For our liberation, except wait in the horror of it.
And I am lost without you."
John Ashbery: They Dream Only of America, from The Partisan Review, Summer 1959; reprinted in The Tennis Court Oath, 1962
base of the tower, no parking. a quieter view true to the nature of the place: photo by Clayton Percy, 7 March 2014