The Sea and the Forest

A woman appears on deck. In her shy look the sailors Inhale the perfume of swamp roots And certain dark streets of Marseilles.

She stands still in a shadow. Voices of children rising from the sea, Air bells and flowers. . . .

Or maybe she is thinking of a house, One of those little streets in Paris Where lovers twitter like canaries.

Or maybe it's a forest. The leaves are hushed and still. All this, and more, the sailors Think of while she stands, One hand lightly resting on the rail.

Farewell, my old pine forest! I might have lived there for a thousand years.