~

parasoled young women, dappled in sunlight, 

dress in white cotton lawn, sip cool tea of fresh 

cut mint while dashing young men stride the 

boulevards wearing sprigs of lilac on their lapels, 

dreaming of ladies falling free of false constraint—

Aeolian breezes stir chimes on white painted 

porches which ring in imitation of church bells 

peeling in wedding’s celebration, tolling joy—

dashing young men stride the boulevards, enter 

drab offices, man drab oaken desks, hang colorless 

coats of worsted wool on the backs of drab, 

straight-backed chairs, starched and pressed white 

shirtsleeves snapped tight with garters—dashing 

young men dream of unfettered women—parasoled 

young women dream of courtship—stout men in 

finery and polished boots harrumph their way 

to black carriages and assignations—light-stepped 

horses break into trot as they feel the touch of reins—

mistresses in satin and lace and pale ribbons watch 

from second story windows for stout men dressed 

in finery with grim anticipation and little hope—

dancers and poets meet in sun-drenched attics, 

skylights thrown open, rooms bare but for raw tables, 

rush-seated chairs, stained and ancient hardwood 

floors, beds of rough cotton sheets and down and 

nothing more—and still dashing young men at their 

desks dream of ladies falling free of false constraint 

and parasoled women dream of courtship, and still

Aeolian breezes stir the chimes in imitation of church 

bells peeling in wedding’s celebration, tolling joy, 

and parasols are folded and put away, and wilted 

sprigs of lilac are thrown away, and a suggestion 

of mint and lilac lingers on the evening air as gaslights 

are lit one by one, and young men and young women 

walk alone or in couples into the night, and what awaits.

~